Pure tetraesters of erythritol with C 10 , C 12 , C 14 , C 16 , C 18 saturated, and C 18:1 unsaturated (oleoyl) fatty acyl chains have been prepared for the first time and characterized using the acylating systems fatty acid/ N,N 0 -dicyclohexylcarbodiimide/4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP), fatty acid anhydride/DMAP, fatty acyl chloride/pyridine, and fatty acyl chloride/boron trifluoride etherate. For the first three systems the yields were in the range of 80-90% while the fatty acyl chloride/pyridine system has the advantage of lower cost. The fatty acyl chloride/boron trifluoride etherate system gave lower (ca 70%) yields of the tetraesters. The tetraesters of erythritol may have applications analogues to those of triglycerides. In addition, new applications can be envisaged for these compounds, as a result of their differences in physical, chemical, and biochemical properties compared to triglycerides.
Practical applications:The tetraesters of erythritol with saturated fatty acyl chains may have applications analogous to those of saturated triglycerides. However, tetraesters with unsaturated fatty acid chains may have greater prospects of having industrial uses after doing chemistry on the carbon-carbon double bonds.