Linoleic acid methyl ester systems

Johnson-Matthey Co. has reported that oleic acid methyl ester or linoleic acid methyl ester can be hydroformylated in micellar media using a water-soluble rhodium complex of monocarboxylated triphenylphosphine 45 as catalyst. As a further example, polyunsaturated linolenic acid methyl ester can be hydroformylated to the triformyl derivative with a selectivity of 55% with a Rh/TPPTS catalytic system in the presence of CTAB (Scheme 1.23). ... 

Various Pt(IV), Pt(II), and Pt(0) catalysts were screened for the hydrosilylation of fatty acid esters (Eq. 7) containing terminal as well as internal double bonds. The reaction of terminally unsaturated fatty acid esters proceeds smoothly with short reaction times for nearly all catalysts examined, whereas the Pt(IV) and Pt(II) or Pt(0) species with labile ligands are sufficiently active in the reaction of internally unsaturated compounds. For methyl linoleate, a conjugation of the two internal double bonds before the hydrosilylation was observed. The reaction can be carried out in solid as well as in solvent systems, permitting catalyst recycling and reuse. In these systems, however, hydrogenation and double-bond isomerization are found as side reactions [22]. 

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