Telomerization of butadiene with glycerol: reaction control through process engineering, solvents, and additives.

Owing to the large amount of glycerol that is formed as a by-product during biodiesel production, there have been great efforts to develop new reactions and processes based on glycerol as a renewable feedstock. One example is the telomerization of butadiene with glycerol which provides an atom-economic route to amphiphilic molecules. The reaction is catalyzed by homogeneous palladium catalysts which necessitates efficient catalyst recycling.