Fatty degradation

In the area of moleculady designed hot-melt adhesives, the most widely used resins are the polyamides (qv), formed upon reaction of a diamine and a dimer acid. Dimer acids (qv) are obtained from the Diels-Alder reaction of unsaturated fatty acids. Linoleic acid is an example. Judicious selection of diamine and diacid leads to a wide range of adhesive properties. Typical shear characteristics are in the range of thousands of kilopascals and are dependent upon temperature. Although hot-melt adhesives normally become quite brittle below the glass-transition temperature, these materials can often attain physical properties that approach those of a stmctural adhesive. These properties severely degrade as the material becomes Hquid above the melt temperature. 

Separation of Fatty Acids. Tall oil is a by-product of the pulp and paper manufacturiag process and contains a spectmm of fatty acids, such as palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids, and rosia acids, such as abietic acid. The conventional refining process to recover these fatty acids iavolves iatensive distillation under vacuum. This process does not yield high purity fatty acids, and moreover, a significant degradation of fatty acids occurs because of the high process temperatures. These fatty and rosia acids can be separated usiag a UOP Sorbex process (93—99) (Tables 8 and 9). 

The sweet water from continuous and batch autoclave processes for splitting fats contains tittle or no mineral acids and salts and requires very tittle in the way of purification, as compared to spent lye from kettle soapmaking (9). The sweet water should be processed promptly after splitting to avoid degradation and loss of glycerol by fermentation. Any fatty acids that rise to the top of the sweet water are skimmed. A small amount of alkali is added to precipitate the dissolved fatty acids and neutralize the liquor. The alkaline liquor is then filtered and evaporated to an 88% cmde glycerol. Sweet water from modem noncatalytic, continuous hydrolysis may be evaporated to ca 88% without chemical treatment. 

Naphthoquiaomycias A (67) and B (68) are isolated from Streptomyces S-1998 (223) and the stmctures for (67) and (68) assigned on the basis of spectral data. Naphthoquiaomycias A and B inhibit fatty acid synthesis ia E. coli. Actamycia (69) is obtaiaed from Streptomyces sp. EJ784 and its stmcture arrived at on the basis of spectral data and degradation studies (224,225). 

The quaHty, ie, level of impurities, of the fats and oils used in the manufacture of soap is important in the production of commercial products. Fats and oils are isolated from various animal and vegetable sources and contain different intrinsic impurities. These impurities may include hydrolysis products of the triglyceride, eg, fatty acid and mono/diglycerides proteinaceous materials and particulate dirt, eg, bone meal and various vitamins, pigments, phosphatides, and sterols, ie, cholesterol and tocopherol as weU as less descript odor and color bodies. These impurities affect the physical properties such as odor and color of the fats and oils and can cause additional degradation of the fats and oils upon storage. For commercial soaps, it is desirable to keep these impurities at the absolute minimum for both storage stabiHty and finished product quaHty considerations. 

Considering their heat sensitivity, the separation of fatty acids and rosin with minimal degradation by fractional distillation under vacuum and/or in the presence of steam is surprisingly good (3). Tad od rosin (TOR) contains about 2% fatty acid and smad amounts of neutrals. Tad od fatty acid (TOFA) contains as Htde as 1.2% rosin and 1.7% neutrals. In typical U.S. TOFA, 49% of the fatty acids is oleic, 45% linoleic, and 3% palmitic, stearic, and eicosatrienoic acid. TOR and TOFA are upgraded to resins and chemicals for the manufacture of inks (qv), adhesives (qv), coatings (qv), and lubricants (see Lubrication AND lubricants). 

Cysteine [52-90 ] is a thiol-bearing amino acid which is readily isolated from the hydrolysis of protein. There ate only small amounts of cysteine and its disulfide, cystine, in living tissue (7). Glutathione [70-18-8] contains a mercaptomethyl group, HSCH2, and is a commonly found tripeptide in plants and animals. Coenzyme A [85-61-0] is another naturally occurring thiol that plays a central role in the synthesis and degradation of fatty acids. 

The acid is rather slow to react with aUphatic hydrocarbons unless a double bond or other reactive group is present. This permits straight-chain fatty alcohols such as lauryl alcohol [112-53-8] C22H2 0, to be converted to the corresponding sulfate without the degradation or discoloration experienced with the more vigorous reagent sulfur trioxide. This is important in shampoo base manufacture (see Hairpreparations). 

Molecular distillation occurs where the vapor path is unobstmcted and the condenser is separated from the evaporator by a distance less than the mean-free path of the evaporating molecules (86). This specialized branch of distillation is carried out at extremely low pressures ranging from 13—130 mPa (0.1—1.0 p.m Hg) (see Vacuum technology). Molecular distillation is confined to appHcations where it is necessary to minimize component degradation by distilling at the lowest possible temperatures. Commercial usage includes the distillation of vitamins (qv) and fatty acid dimers (see Dimeracids). 

Processing Aids. Stearic acid [57-11-4] or other fatty acids and/or metal soaps of fatty acids are added to reduce shear degradation and mill sticking during mixing. Sorbitan monostearate (ICI s Span 60) is one of the best processing aids to reduce mill sticking. 

Natural rubber is harvested as latex by tapping trees in a manner similar to maple syrup. Tree latex contains about 35 wt% rubber solids, as well as small quantities of carbohydrates, resins, mineral salts and fatty acids. Ammonia should be immediately added to the latex to avoid coagulation by these other ingredients and to prevent bacterial degradation. After collection, the latex can be concentrated to 60-70% solids if the latex product is required for end-use. Otherwise, the latex is coagulated, washed, dried, and pressed into bales for use as dry rubber. 

Whereas catabolism is fundamentally an oxidative process, anabolism is, by its contrasting nature, reductive. The biosynthesis of the complex constituents of the cell begins at the level of intermediates derived from the degradative pathways of catabolism or, less commonly, biosynthesis begins with oxidized substances available in the inanimate environment, such as carbon dioxide. When the hydrocarbon chains of fatty acids are assembled from acetyl-CoA units, activated hydrogens are needed to reduce the carbonyl (C=0) carbon of acetyl-CoA into a —CHg— at every other position along the chain. When glucose is... 

Degradation of Dietary Fatty Acids Occurs Primarily in the Duodenum... 

Dietary triacylglycerols are degraded to a small extent (via fatty acid release) by lipases in the low-pH environment of the stomach, but mostly pass untouched into the duodenum. Alkaline pancreatic juice secreted into the... 

FIGURE 24.6 Fatty acids are degraded by repeated cycies of oxidation at the /3-carbon and cieavage of the bond to yieid... 

---