Abstract
Methyl β-eleostearate was prepared by usual method from isomerized tung oil, and solutions with three different concentrations, 77.8, 44.9, and 4.5% of methyl β-eleostearate in methyl myristate were prepared. These samples with three different concentrations were heated at a settled temperature which ranged between 250°C to 500°C. As the results, since heat cyclization of methyl β-eleostearate resulted in formation of cyclic monomer and dimer as two main components, it was considerd that the reaction mechanism involved a competitive reaction which formed cyclic monomer and dimer. Moreover, the rate constants and activation energies at each reaction condition from the above mechanism were determined. Next, as the result of maximum conversions to the cyclic monomer from methyl β-eleostearate at each reaction condition were examined, the cyclic monomer was formed readily at a high reaction temperature in a low concentration of methyl β-eleostearate.
