Ultrasound assisted selective catalytic transfer hydrogenation of soybean oil using 5% Pd/C as catalyst under ambient conditions in water.

Catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) is an alternative approach that does not require the use of potentially dangerous hydrogen gas. Pd/C is the most favoured catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of soybean oil yielding lower extent of formation of stearic acid and trans-isomer, which have adverse health effects. The present work deals with intensification of catalytic transfer hydrogenation of soybean oil in the presence of 5wt.% Pd/C using ultrasound under ambient reaction conditions. The effect of important operating parameters such as ultrasound power, temperature, type of hydrogen donor, catalyst loading and donor concentration on the progress of reaction has been investigated. It was established that the maximum extent of hydrogenation as indicated by reduction in iodine value from 135 to 95 was observed under optimized conditions of irradiation power as 100W, 22kHz frequency, 90% duty cycle, ammonium formate concentration of 0.32mol/50ml water and 2% (w/w) Pd/C loading at ambient temperature and pressure in the presence of water as solvent. The approach also offered excellent selectivity with much lower trans-isomer formation as compared to the conventional approach of high pressure hydrogenation. Overall, the work has successfully demonstrated process intensification benefits due to the use of ultrasound for the Pd/C catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of soybean oil.