Kinetics of oligomerization of methyl ester of dehydrated castor oil fatty acid over molybdenum oxide on silica–alumina catalyst in comparison with the thermal oligomerization process

A process is described for the oligomerization of methyl ester of dehydrated castor oil fatty acid over molybdenum oxide on silica–alumina catalyst. The process is compared with thermal oligomerization. The nature of the reaction in both the processes are shown to be the same from the structural elucidation of the product despite the variation in product composition. The percentage of dimer in the product in both the processes is observed to attain an equilibrium value at around 270°C. The catalytic process is shown to follow a second‐order kinetics with respect to the monomer, whereas the thermal reaction follows a first‐order kinetics. The kinetic scheme derived for the catalytic process is shown to be consistent with the steps of the general mechanism proposed for oligomerization reactions over transition metal catalysts [V. G. Kumar, S. Venkatachalam, and K.V.C. Rao, J. Poly. Sci. Polym. Chem. Ed., 22, 3850 (1984)].