Author(s)

Ricardo Fiori Zara, Elton Guntendorfer Bonafé, Clayton Antunes Martin, Nilson Evelázio de Souza, Edvani Curti Muniz, Jesuí Vergílio Visentainer

Department of Chemical Processes, Federal Technological University of Parana, Toledo, Brazil.
Department of Chemistry, State University of Maringa, Maringa, Brazil.

Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) preparation is an important step to determine fatty acid composition of oils and fats. Transesterification with boron trifluoride (BF₃) in methanol has been widely used; however, the transesterification of triacylglycerols usually involves a long heating time, whereas much shorter reaction times may be sufficient when microwave irradiation is used. The purpose of this paper was to optimize FAME preparation with BF₃ by microwave irradiation. A three-factor central composite routable (CCRD) design was used to study the effect of the heating time (A), irradiation power (B), and volume of sodium hydroxide (C) on FAME concentration. A second-order polynomial model was employed to generate a surface response. Optimum conditions obtained for FAME preparation were time of 60 s, irradiation power of 220 W, and base volume of 1.5 mL. Compared to conventional methods, the advantages of this method are the quick result and the accuracy.

Vegetable Oil; Boron Trifluoride; Transesterification; Surface Response Methodology; FAME

R. Fiori Zara, E. Guntendorfer Bonafé, C. Antunes Martin, N. Evelázio de Souza, E. Curti Muniz and J. Vergílio Visentainer, "Preparation of Fame by Microwave Irradiation Using Boron Trifluoride as a Catalyst," American Journal of Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 3 No. 4, 2012, pp. 288-294. doi: 10.4236/ajac.2012.34039.