Structural stability and catalytic activity of calcium glycerolates in soybean oil methyl transesterification reactions

Calcium glycerolates were synthesized as monoglycerolates, and diglycerolates with different main basal plane orientations (111) or (200) and used in the methanolysis of soybean oil. All the solids presented catalytic actives with a conversion rate of up to 60% for monoglycerolates and up to 98% for the diglycerolates. The reuse tests indicated that the diglycerolate-111 was the most efficient, with 96% of conversion in the first three reactions and almost 82% after the fourth use. It lost effectiveness after the fifth reuse reaction because of segregation in a non-catalytic mixture of CaO and CaCO 3 phases. Graphical Abstract