Survey of several catalytic systems for the epoxidation of a biobased ester sucrose soyate

Epoxidized sucrose soyate (ESS) is a biobased, reactive substrate useful in the production of a range of new materials. Several readily available metal catalysts for the synthesis of ESS by epoxidation of sucrose soyate (SS) with various oxidants have been surveyed, with the consideration of environmental sustainability. Among them, a methyltrioxorhenium(MTO)/H2O2 system in 2-methyltetrahydrofuran solvent is identified as the most effective method with mild reaction conditions, high activity and high selectivity.