One-step acrylation of soybean oil (SO) for the preparation of SO-based macromonomers

Abstract

In this work, a novel efficient one-step method for preparation of acrylated soybean oil (ASO) was introduced. ASO was obtained by reacting soybean oil (SO) and acrylic acid (AA) directly under the catalysis of BF₃·Et₂O. Effects of reaction stoichiometry and reaction time on the conversion of the double bonds of SO were studied. ¹H NMR analysis indicated that the number of acrylate groups could reach 3.09 per triglyceride molecule or the conversion of the double bonds was up to ∼75.7%. Copolymerization of the ASO and styrene was demonstrated, and the flexural and dynamic mechanical properties of the resulting polymers were evaluated.