Parameters Governing Ruthenium Sawhorse-Based Decarboxylation of Oleic Acid

Ruthenium-catalyzed decarboxylation
of 9-cis-octadecenoic is a
path to produce biobased olefins. Here, a mechanistic study of this
reaction was undertaken utilizing a closed reaction system and a pressure
reactor. The proposed mechanism of an isomerization followed by a
decarboxylation reaction was consistent with a mathematical kinetic
model. That same model was able to accurately predict CO2 evolution. Additionally, computational chemistry was used to determine
that the barrier of the oleic acid decarboxylation reaction is 249
kJ mol–1. Using the new information, the efficacy
of the decarboxylation reaction was improved to an overall catalytic
efficiency of 850 total turnovers.