The first step of biodiesel autoxidation by differential scanning calorimetry and DFT calculations

The radical abstraction reaction of (bis)-allylic hydrogen in biodiesel fatty acid chains is the first step of autoxidation, being the rate-determining one. Some intrinsic features of the intermediary radicals can determine the oxidative stability (OS) under thermodynamic control. In the present study, some common fatty acid methyl esters present in biodiesel (stearate, oleate, ricinoleate, and linoleate) were oxidized in non-isothermal conditions, using differential scanning calorimetry, and the results were compared with quantum chemical calculations at the density functional theory level. The OS order (saturated > monounsaturated > polyunsaturated) was observed in both approaches (experimental and theoretical). A slight deviation observed between oleate and ricinoleate OS’s was explained based on their allylic radicals resonance and the influence of vicinal hydroxyl group. A linear relationship was found between oxidation temperature by pressurized differential scanning calorimetry and the calculated bond dissociation energy (C–H) for the first step of autoxidation.