Interesterification. I. Change of glyceride composition during the course of interesterification

Abstract Changes in composition produced in monounsaturated triglycerides during the course of interesterification, before full randomization is achieved, have been followed by using thin‐layer chromatography. Results indicate that intraesterification, in which interchanges take place between positions on the same molecule, occurs at a faster rate than, the general randomization which results from interesterification. The reaction is found to proceed according to the expression log a α t, where ‘a’ is the proportion of fatty acid components not changed in position by the reaction. This expression is of general application to triglyceride interesterifications and provides a basic equation in terms of which the effects of temperature, catalysts, and other experimental conditions can be studied.