Mechanism of olefin metathesis and active site formation on photoreduced molybdenum silicate catalysts. 5. Metathesis of unsaturated fatty acid esters

CO-photoreduced molybdenum silicate catalyst which has been treated with cyclopropane exhibits high activity and productivity with respect to the metathesis of unsaturated fatty acid esters (ethyl oleate, ethyl linoleate, and ethyl linolenate), as well as the cometathesis of ethyl oleate with 5-decene and other olefins. The activation energy for this reaction has been estimated. The cometathesis products of 5-decene with mixtures of ethyl ester derivatives of acids with varying degrees of unsaturation, derived from olive oil, sunflower oil, and linseed oil, have also been analyzed. The activity and efficiency (throughput) of known metathesis catalysts have been compared with the properties of the photoreduced molybdenum silicate catalyst developed in the present paper.