Recent Developments and Future Trends in Oleochemistry

Recently, there has been a tendency toward a gradual changing of raw materials in the detergent industry from petrochemicals to vegetable oils. Palm oil has been worthy of special attention because of satisfactory yields and suitable carbon distributions for various kinds of surfactants.Alpha-sulfo-fatty acid methyl ester (MES), synthesized by the reaction of methyl ester and SO3, has excellent detergency and make it possible to produce a more concentrated detergent, which is friendly to the environment. Ethoxylated fatty methyl ester (EFMe) is directly synthesized by the reaction of ethylene oxide and methyl ester, using a newly developed catalyst of Al-MgO composite.The extraction of natural carotene from crude palm oil has been commercially successful. Applications of palm carotene include those of synthetic carotene as well as new pharmaceutical applications. Furthermore, new mild surfactants for hair and skin, made from oleochemical product, have been developed.In this paper, new surfactants made from the methyl ester, the extraction of minor constituents from palm oil, and future trends in oleochemistry are discussed.