Potential Vegetable‐Based Diesel Fuels from Perkin Condensation of Furfuraldehyde and Fatty Acid Anhydrides

Abstract Domestically produced biofuels may help to reduce dependence on imported oil for powering transportation and infrastructure in the future. In this report, we reacted medium‐chain and long‐chain fatty anhydrides (capric, caprylic, lauric, and palmitic) with furfuraldehyde by the Perkin condensation to produce 2‐ n ‐alkenylfurans. In the second step, the 2‐ n ‐alkenylfurans were hydrogenated to form 2‐ n ‐alkyltetrahydrofurans. Basic fuel property testing (melting point, density, kinematic viscosity, derived cetane number, and calorific value) of the 2‐ n ‐alkyltetrahydrofurans indicates they are potentially useful as fuels for diesel engines. The mixture composed of 2‐octyl‐ and 2‐decyltetrahydrofuran had the best combination of fuel properties including a low melting point (−39 °C), high cetane number (63.1), high flash point (98.2 °C), and low viscosity (2.26 mm 2 s −1 , 40 °C), which compares favorably with specifications for diesel #2 and biodiesel.