(174h) A Novel Synthesis of Odd-Numbered Fatty Acids From Corresponding Natural Fatty Acids and the Potential Application in Soap-Based Detergents

The odd-numbered fatty acids (OFAs), almost negligible in nature, are potential precursors, such as lubricant agents, medicines for their special properties.  OFAs were occasionally prepared in small amounts by oxidation of aldehyde, olefin, or by fermentation route. Those traditional routes have many drawbacks, such as lower conversion, more difficult separation, higher energy consumption, environmental pollution, which hinders the process in large scale. A novel synthesis route of OFAs is developed in this paper from natural fatty acids of one more carbon atom through chlorination, hydrolysis and followed by decarboxylation. The structure of OFAs was confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrum (GC-MS) and fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR). The corresponding sodium soaps were prepared from both the newly launched odd-numbered fatty acids and the parent even-numbered fatty acids. The experimental results showed that the Krafft points of the odd-numbered soaps were lower or even far lower than that of the parent fatty acids, which means the former has better solubility in cold water. This discovery shed light on formulations of soap-based detergents which were bothered longtime by poor low-temperature solubility of sodium soap derived from natural fatty acids.