Green and Efficient Modification of Grape Seed Oil to Synthesize Renewable Monomers

Abstract

Grape seed is a waste product from the wine and juice industries. However, vegetable oil can be extracted from it, which is a renewable chemical with a huge potential application after chemical modifications, such as epoxidation and maleinization processes. This paper therefore deals with the use of grape seed oil, to produce its epoxidized and maleinized derivatives. Both derivatives were synthesized in order to improve the conversion (99.4%), yield (98.9%) and selectivity (99.5%) values, as well as to decrease the reaction time (3 h) using cleaner energy sources and heterogeneous catalysts, which can be used 4× without regeneration and obtaining similar conversion and yield values, and at least 5× keeping high selectivity. Based on the characterization results, both grape seed oil derivatives may be applied in different fields, including polymer chemistry as a monomer, coating, and paint. In addition, they can be an option to industries that use petrochemical derivatives as precursors.