Epoxidation of soybean oil over titanium or niobium incorporated SBA-15 and sulfated lanthanum titania silicate catalysts

Mesoporous heterogeneous catalysts were synthesized to develop environmentally benign catalysts for soybean oil's (Glycine max) epoxidation. The investigated materials were sulfated lanthanum doped titania silica xerogel (SO4/La-TiO2-SiO2), and Ti and Nb incorporated SBA-15 with two different silica/metal molar ratios of 10 and 20. Soybean oil epoxidation reactions were performed in tert-butanol by utilizing H2O2 as oxidant at 75 °C for 6 h. Product analysis was carried out by H NMR, FTIR, and analytical methods. Nb-SBA-15 catalysts yielded better conversion than Ti-SBA-15 catalysts owing to their high acidity. However, epoxide selectivity was found low for both catalyst groups due to water in the medium that promoted side reactions. Tert-butanol and ethyl acetate were studied as solvents, but employing ethyl acetate in the reactions triggered catalysts aggregation and deposition on the reactor surface. Stability tests indicated the robustness of Ti and Nb against leaching, whereas sulfur leaching was noted with SO4/La-TiO2-SiO2 catalyst. The most active Nb-SBA-15 (10) catalyst was also applied in the epoxidation of soybean-derived fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). The results showed that small-sized FAME molecules did not enhance the reaction rate. Reusability tests indicated that Nb-SBA-15 (10) was active in epoxidation for at least three cycles.