2.2.1 Synthesis of Methyl oleate
Esterification reaction of OA with methanol to obtain MO was performed in the presence of H2SO4 (catalyst) (Aranda et al. 2008). In a typical reaction, OA (35.401 mmol, 10g), CH3OH (318.61 mmol, 12.90 ml) and H2SO4 (0.193 ml, 3.540 mmol) were added to the 50 ml double necked round bottomed flask equipped with an oil bath, reflux condenser and a magnetic stirrer. The reaction mixture was stirred for 2 h at 80 C and the progress of the reaction was monitored with the help of thin layer chromatography (TLC) taking hexane:ethylacetate (90:10) as mobile phase. After completion, the reaction was quenched with saturated sodium bicarbonate solution. The organic phase was extracted with ethyl acetate (3 x 30 mL), washed with brine, dried over anhydrous Na2SO4, concentrated in vacuo , to get methyl oleate (MO) as colourless liquid. Esterification reaction of OA is a clean reaction and MO is obtained as an exclusive product which is further confirmed from the1H NMR spectra (Fig. 1 ).