Lubricity Characteristics of Seed Oils Modified by Acylation

Chemically modified seed oils via acylation of epoxidized and polyhydroxylated derivatives were investigated for their potential as candidates for lubrication. The native oil was preliminarily epoxidized and ring-opened in a one-pot reaction using formic acid-H2O2 followed by aqueous HCl treatment to give the polyhydroxy intermediate. The latter was then acylated with C-2 to C-5 anhydrides to avail the poly-acetyl, poly-butyroyl and poly-pentanoyl esters of the oil. Using oxirane as a starting material, the vicinal polyformates were generated. A tribological study of these seed oil derivatives exhibited low coefficient of friction as well as low wear scar in the 4-ball tribometric tests.