[EN] NOVEL COMPOUNDS SUITED AS DIESEL SUPPLEMENTS AND DIESEL SUBSTITUTES AND ROUTES FOR THEIR SYNTHESIS<br/>[FR] NOUVEAUX COMPOSÉS APPROPRIÉS COMME COMPLÉMENTS ET SUBSTITUTS POUR DIESEL ET VOIES DE SYNTHÈSE ASSOCIÉES
申请人:ETH ZUERICH
公开号:WO2010115578A2
公开(公告)日:2010-10-14
Novel Diesel substitutes or supplements as well as routes for their synthesis are disclosed. The subject compounds comprise esters assembled from a fatty acid and an alcohol component. According to the invention, the fatty acid component of the esters is selected from the list of nonanoic acid, decanoic acid, undecanoic acid, dodecanoic acid, tridecanoic acid, tetradecanoic acid, and pentadecanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, heptadecanoic acid, and ocatadecanoic aicd while the alcohol component is selected from the list of ethanol, 1- propanol, 2-propanol, 2-methylpropanol, 1-butanol, or 2-butanol. The disclosed compounds are highly chemically stable and solve the dilemma between deteriorating auto-ignition properties and cetane numbers of Diesel fuel compounds at improved suitability for application at cold-temperatures. Furthermore, methods for synthesis of the said compounds are provided. In one embodiment, the fatty acid component of the disclosed esters are synthesized by a single process from renewable feed stocks such as plant material, municipal, industrial or agricultural waste and by aid of microbial catalysts or fermentation while the alcohol component is synthesized by another process by means of petro-chemistry or microbial catalysis. In one embodiment, the ester is then formed in a third process and while using biological or chemical catalysts while in another embodiment the alcohol is added to the microbial process employed for synthesis of the fatty acid component and the fatty acid ester is then formed concomitant to the microbial catalyzed fatty acid synthesis. In yet another embodiment, the esters are synthesized directly, i.e. in a single process, from renewable resources and by aid of a microbial biocatalyst. The methods for synthesis of the disclosed compounds solve the problem of high cost and low availability of fatty acid esters.