Selective monoesterification of the longer carbon chain in a mixture of dicarboxylic acids by adsorbing and aligning the acids on alumina was written by Ogawa, Haruo;Chihara, Teiji;Teratani, Shousuke;Taya, Kazuo. And the article was included in Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications in 1986.COA of Formula: C13H24O4 This article mentions the following:
When mixtures of dicarboxylic acids were absorbed on Al2O3 and treated with CH2N2 in vigorously agitated cyclohexane the longer carboxylic acid was selectively monomethylated. Thus, treating a mixture of HO2C(CH2)10CO2H and HO2C(CH2)3CO2H by the above procedure gave 89% MeO2C(CH2)10CO2H and 9% MeO2C(CH2)3CO2H. This selectivity is attributed to a perpendicular alignment of the acids with the Al2O3 surface that makes the nonabsorbed end of the longer acid more available to the CH2N2. In the experiment, the researchers used many compounds, for example, 12-Methoxy-12-oxododecanoic acid (cas: 3903-40-0COA of Formula: C13H24O4).
12-Methoxy-12-oxododecanoic acid (cas: 3903-40-0) belongs to esters. Carboxylic acid esters of low molecular weight are colourless, volatile liquids with pleasant odours, slightly soluble in water. Esters are more polar than ethers but less polar than alcohols. They participate in hydrogen bonds as hydrogen-bond acceptors, but cannot act as hydrogen-bond donors, unlike their parent alcohols. This ability to participate in hydrogen bonding confers some water-solubility.COA of Formula: C13H24O4
Referemce:
Ester – Wikipedia,
Ester – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics