Modified fats by heterogeneous catalysis: Changes on the way to green chemistry

Abstract

Green chemistry is the design, development and implementation of chemical products and processes to reduce or eliminate the use and generation of contaminants. Within this approach, heterogeneous catalysts have proven to be a promising alternative to replace homogeneous catalysts. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of using heterogeneous catalysts in the production of modified fats by chemical interesterification reaction. The mesoporous molecular sieves such as MCM-41 and SBA-15 modified with basic organic molecules may be promising catalysts for this reaction due to its surface area and pore size suitable for access of triacylglycerol molecules to their active sites and possess activity in reactions involving the production of carbanions as reaction intermediates.