New bio-active and surface active plant oil derivatives

The search for biodegradable materials from renewable resources instead of petroleum oil based materials is motivated by the growing concern for sustainability. The vegetable biomass is one of the promising renewable material resources due to their low cost and high availability. In this thesis, synthesis of biodegradable soybean oil based, bio-active and surface active materials were carried out. Starting material for synthesis was soybean oil – maleic anhydrides adduct (SOMA) which has highly reactive anhydride groups attached to the triglyceride. First novelty in this thesis is quantitative determination of the number of anhydride groups per triglyceride by NMR analysis using the mono-benzyl ester derivative of SOMA. Secondly, the number of anhydride groups per triglyceride was maximized by the use of Lewis Acid catalyst. SOMA is an excellent reactant for reaction with molecules having primary hydroxyl and amino groups. When these molecules are water soluble, an amphoteric molecule having an oleophilic end and a hydrophilic end is produced and these would act as excellent bio-based emulsifying agents. In this thesis glucose, riboflavin, polyethylene glycols and their monoesters, and Jeffamines were attached to soybean oil triglyceride. In total three new bioactive derivatives and three new surface active amphoteric derivatives of soybean oil were synthesized. The products were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and NMR spectroscopy.