Ternary liquid-liquid equilibria measurement for epoxidized soybean oil + acetic acid + water.

Liquid-liquid equilibria (LLE) data were measured for ternary system epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) + acetic acid + water at 313.15, 323.15 and 333.15 K, respectively. The consistency of the measured LLE data was tested, using Othmer-Tobias correlation and root-mean-square deviation (sigma) in mass fraction of water in the lower phase and average value of the absolute difference (AAD) between experimental mass fraction of epoxidized soybean oil in the upper phase and that calculated using Othmer-Tobias correlation.

Epoxidation of soybean oil catalyzed by [pi-C5H5NC16H33]3[PW4O16] with hydrogen peroxide and ethyl acetate as solvent.

A new environmentally benign and highly efficient catalytic system [pi-C5H5NC16H33]3[PO4(WO3)4]/H2O2/CH3COOC2H5 for the epoxidation of soybean oil displayed excellent activity and high recovery. The change of the catalyst during the reaction was investigated by elemental analysis, FT-IR and 31P NMR.