Prevention of Unsaturated Fatty Alcohols Depravation by Selective Hydrogenation of Conjugated Double Bonds

A liquid unsaturated fatty alcohol containing only slight amount of conjugated diene impurities was obtained by the selective hydrogenation of industrial oleyl alcohol originally taken from palm kernel oil through use of a copper-chromium-mangane oxide catalyst, followed by fractional distillation and steam distillation. The liquid unsaturated alcohol thus obtained was improved with respect to restraint of odor and color impairment, these problems possibly arising from degradation. Also the cloud point was kept low.