Question

Reaction: base-catalyzed transesterification of a triglyceride to a diglyceride with methanol.

Discuss the greenness of the reaction, including how much waste this reaction generates.

Two convenient metrics for reaction efficiency are E-Facto and atom economy.

Use these to discuss the efficiency of your reaction.

Answer 1

the base-catalyzed transesterification of a triglyceride to a diglyceride with methanol is very difficult to synthesize because even if you take methanol and triglyceride in ratio 1:3, then also there will still be many side products formed like 1,2-diacylglycerols and 1,3-diacylglycerols. This is generally used as the fat substitute and

have a total annual sale of approximately USD 200 million in Japan every year.

The Industrial production is primarily achieved by a glycerolysis reaction between triglycerides and glycerol.

Even if you block one site to get desired product, the efficiency is very less with only about 10-15% yield.