madchem - 25-3-2006 at 20:35
I have a Question about Ethyl Oleate or (oleic acid ethyl ester) (Oleic acid ethyl ester) same same
For those who know Tokyo chemical industry (TCI)
I was looking for EO so i pull out the most recent catalog and they sell oleic acid ethyl ester 95% by GC 97.35 US$ for 25ml
am I mising something, seems like a prettly simple compound to synthesize and TCI usualy has good prices
Anyone could clarify this mistery, I thought it was a type-o but the same price is listed on the web-site
thnxzinadvnc
Mindchemist - 30-4-2011 at 18:38
It would most likely form from the esterification of ethanol and oleic acid with a sulfuric acid catalyst, the oleic acid can be prepared from olive
oil: http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=15891
Paddywhacker - 30-4-2011 at 21:53
The price is because it is 95% by GLC and reflects how difficult it is to purify one of these fatty acids free from its close homologues.
bbartlog - 1-5-2011 at 05:57
And also presumably a lack of economies of scale for this compound at this purity, i.e. it quite possibly had to be synthesized by an actual chemist
at a bench and isn't produced by some industrial-scale process.
ScienceSquirrel - 1-5-2011 at 12:13
It is one of these things that would be cheaper to make yourself if you wanted it in a large quantity.
Ebao-lu - 3-5-2011 at 05:41
Yes, that is probably due to its purity.
The major component of biodiesel made from rapeseed oil is methyloleate, but there is also methylstearate. Pure methyloleate is more expensive because
it is difficult to separate it from methylstearate. If you can find any cheap source of pure (say 95%) oleic acid, or its ester (say triglyceride),
then your complains about the high price would be 100% correct.
[Edited on 3-5-2011 by Ebao-lu]