High oleic oils by selective hydrogenation of soybean oil

High oleic (monoene) oils were obtained from soybean oil by selective hydrogenation with copper catalysts. A mixture of nickel and copper chromite catalyst had activity suitable for producing the high monoene oils. A new catalyst (copper‐on‐Cab‐O‐Sil) prepared in the Laboratory was more active than commercial copper catalysts. Hydrogenated oils contained 61–72% monoenoic and 14–24% dienoic acids, and there was essentially no increase in stearic acid. The trans ‐isomer content of these oils varied between 17% to 32%. Double bonds in the monoene were distributed along the molecule from C 6 to C 15 , but were located preferentially in the C 9 position for the cis ‐monoene and in the C 10 and C 11 positions for the trans ‐monoene. When the iodine value of these high monoene oils was about 90–95, they remained liquid above 28 C. Citric acid treatment reduced the copper content of hydrogenated oils to a level that was comparable to that of the original soybean oil.