From vegetable oils to polyurethanes: Synthetic routes to polyols and main industrial products

Abstract

Most of biobased polyols for polyurethanes are synthesized from vegetable oils. In the first part, the present review goes into details of these different synthetic routes to obtain polyols. First, olefinic functionalities of triglycerides could easily be epoxidized, leading to reactive epoxide groups. Second, triglycerides double bonds could undergo a wide ranges of reactions to yield polyols. Finally, the carbonyl group could also be used as a reactive group to yield various polyols. In the second part, the present review is dedicated to the commercial biobased polyols, and, based on the patent literature focuses on the industrial synthetic routes. © 2012 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.