(476a) Lubricant Synthesis Based On Renewable Feedstock Realized by Tailor-Made Chemistry

This work is part of the collaborative research center 442 (CRC 442). The aim of this CRC is to realize a tribosystem based on renewable resources without additivation. Therefore a route to synthesize an environmentally benign lubricant in a two-step-synthesis was established. This lubricant will be used in machine tools without or with less additivation. The problem of commercially available lubricants is the possible toxicological harm for the user who gets into contact with the oil and the ecological problems caused by loss lubrication. The starting materials are oleic acid methyl ester (OME) and glyceryl trioleate (GTO) either derived from animal feedstock or sunflower oil. The synthesis consists of the epoxidation of double bonds and the subsequent alcoholysis of the epoxide. The tailor-made lubricant is synthesized in a 25 L scale batch reactor as well as in a micro-scale continuous-flow reactor. Calorimetric as well as spectroscopic methods have been employed in order to determine the reaction progress.