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.