Comparison of soybean oil and castor oil methanolysis in the presence of tin(IV) complexes

In this paper we present and discuss the results obtained from the methanolysis of two vegetable oils with very distinct triglyceride composition, castor oil and soybean oil, using Lewis acid Sn(IV)-based compounds as catalysts. For all transesterification reactions, two different types of reactors were employed; an open glass (OG) reactor equipped with a reflux condenser, and a closed steel (CS) reactor. The results indicated that in all reactions assayed, regardless of the Sn(IV)-based catalyst employed, the yields obtained with the methanolysis of castor oil are generally lower than those carried out with soybean oil. Furthermore, independently of the oil used, the reaction yields tend to be higher when the CS reactor was employed.