Bio-based phenolic-branched-chain fatty acid isomers synthesized from vegetable oils and natural monophenols using modified H+-Ferrierite zeolite

Abstract There is tremendous demand for the development of new bio-based materials with bioactive properties to replace antimicrobials or antibiotics that are no longer effective against microorganisms. For this current research, a new group of phenolic branched-chain fatty acids ( n- PBC-FA), hybrid molecules of natural monophenols (i.e., thymol, carvacrol and creosote) and mixed fatty acid (i.e., derived from soybean and safflower oils), are efficiently produced through a process known as arylation. The reactions for producing these compounds involve a combination of the modified H + ‐Ferrierite zeolite catalyst and water co-catalyst which give 72.4%, 77.2%, and 48.8% yields for thymol-safflower branched-chain fatty acids (BCFA), creosote-safflower BCFA and carvacrol-BCFA, respectively. The ratios (2.2–17 wt/wt) of water co-catalyst to zeolite catalyst were found to have a significant influence on the arylation reaction as the water co-catalyst depressed the isomerization reaction and favored the arylation reaction. This modified H + -ferrierite zeolite can be regenerated by calcining at 500 °C in air for 2 h, and the activity of the catalyst can be maintained at a relatively stable level without significant deactivation even after 7 reused cycles. The n -PBC-FA products are thoroughly characterized by gas chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry. Most importantly, these products can be purified up to 97 wt% by the wiped-film molecular distillation device.