Efficiency of heterogeneous catalysts in interesterification reaction from macaw oil (Acrocomia aculeata) and methyl acetate

•Heterogeneous catalysts were evaluated in interesterification reaction from macaw oil.•All investigated catalysts were active in the reaction.•Alumina and niobium phosphate were the most suitable catalysts.•Reusing results indicate that alumina performed better than niobium phosphate.

Heterogeneous catalysts (niobium phosphate, niobium oxide, γ-alumina and zeolite HY) have been evaluated in interesterification reaction of macaw oil with methyl acetate, to produce fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) and triacetin. The reaction was conducted with a methyl acetate to oil molar ratio of 30:1, 5 wt% of catalyst and 250 °C. All the catalysts, except zeolite HY, exhibited good catalytic activity, and the most suitable were γ-alumina and niobium phosphate, that reached a FAME and triacetin content of 51.60 wt% and 53.55%, respectively, in 2 h, which considering the maximum oil convertibility of 61.6 wt%, corresponds to 83.77 wt% and 86.93 wt% of conversion efficiency, respectively. The effect of reaction time was studied for these catalysts and it was observed that for γ-alumina one hour of reaction was enough to reach 52.49 wt% of FAME and triacetin yield, corresponding to 85.21 wt% of conversion efficiency. On the other hand, in reaction with niobium phosphate two hours and a half were required to achieve 52.90 wt% of FAME and triacetin yield, corresponding to 85.87 wt% of conversion efficiency. γ-alumina could be reused for at least 5 cycles without great activity loss, while niobium phosphate presented significant activity loss from the first to the second cycle.