Hydrogenation of Fatty Acid Esters. I. Nickel(II) Carboxylate-Sodium Dihydridobis(2-methoxyethoxo)aluminate Catalyst

Factors determining the catalytic activity of the title system, its selectivity and stability have been studied, using hydrogenation of low erucic rapeseed oil as a model reaction. It was found that catalytically active systems are formed already at substoichiometric Al:Ni molar ratios. By contrast to their efficiency, their stability is depended strongly on the way of their preparation, the catalysts obtained under solventless conditions being more stable. The selectivity of the above systems determined by a partial hydrogenation of the oil was insensitive to changes of preparation conditions, as demonstrated by similar relative composition of hydrogenated fatty acids as well as by the same level of trans-isomerization.