Production of polyols and mono-ols from 10 North-American vegetable oils by ozonolysis and hydrogenation: A characterization study

Ozonolysis and hydrogenation reaction was performed on ten North-American vegetable oils. From these oils, canola oil and sunflower oil were chemically refined. Camelina, juvenile canola, three types of flax and three types of mustard were cold pressed and their oils were processed without further treatment. The production of polyols from unrefined vegetable oils by the ozonolysis-hydrogenation process is reported for the first time. The resulting polyols and mono-ols were characterized by GC-FID, DSC, GPC, HPLC, and their acid and hydroxyl numbers, viscosity and molecular weight distribution were determined. Results showed that the physical properties of the refined vegetable oils were different from the unrefined vegetable oils as they displayed higher hydroxyl values. However, the physical properties of the polyols from the unrefined starting materials are expected to be sufficient to be utilized as monomers for the production of polymeric materials.