Synthesis of palm oil based polymeric ester through cationic addition polymerisation method

In this study, the synthesis of palm oil-based polymeric ester for application as a polymeric surfactant was carried out by a cationic addition polymerisation method through two steps. The initial step is a synthesis of fatty acid methyl esters oleate (FAMEO) through esterification reaction between oleic acid and methanol. The optimum conditions of the esterification reaction were carried out at a temperature of 70–80oC for 4 hours with the addition of 1wt% sulfuric acid as a catalyst. The molar ratio between oleic acid and methanol was 1:3. FAMEO was analysed using GCMS to determine the methyl ester content. The second step is the polymerisation of FAMEO. The polymerisation reaction of FAMEO was carried out at 120, 140, and 160oC with 1wt%, 3wt% and 5wt% of boron trifluoride dihydrate as a catalyst and an initiator of polymerisation reaction for 4 to 24 hours of reaction. The reaction conversion of the product was 66%. The polymeric ester was analysed H-NMR. Meanwhile, the molecular weight of that product was 1714 g/mol which analysed using GPC and the PDI was 1.12346 or equal to 1.12. It means that the polymerisation technique was controlled or living polymerisation, which indicates that the distribution type of this product was narrow monodisperse.