Transforming Used Cooking Oil into Chemical Building Blocks
Worldwide, 119 million tons of used vegetable oil are generated annually, mostly from commercial kitchens. Although some is converted to biodiesel, researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT) have now developed a catalyst to convert this waste into primary amines, essential compounds in pharmaceuticals and daily-use products. Doctoral student Fairoosa Poovan, under Prof. Matthias Beller, uses a cobalt-based catalyst to create these valuable chemicals with greater efficiency than conventional methods.
The catalyst enables a one-step process that minimizes resources and works at lower temperatures, making it a more sustainable alternative to traditional synthesis routes. This approach not only retains the carbon in a usable form but also supports circular carbon economy goals, as the team collaborates with the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg to find additional applications for bio-based wastes.
