Investigation of Conjugated Soybean Oil as Drying Oils and CLA Sources

Better sources of drying oils for coatings and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) for potential health benefits are of continuing interest. Iodine under photochemical conditions in hexanesB at reflux temperatures was investigated as a catalyst for conjugating soybean oil (SBO) for use as drying oils and as a potential source of CLA. Variations in catalyst loading, SBO, light source, free radical catalyst, solvent and temperature strongly affected the efficiency of the process. Changes in fatty acid isomer distributions in conjugated SBO (CSBO) influenced drying properties of CSBO. Conjugated dienes formed were predominantly trans-9,trans-11, which contrasts distributions found with catalysts such as strong base and metal compounds. Drying times of some of the CSBOs were superior to that of raw linseed oil. Iodine was partially recovered.