Patent ID: 7498454

Claim:
A process for preparing a fatty acid alkyl ester of the general formula I: and acrolein by reacting a triglyceride of the general formula II: wherein a) said triglyceride is reacted using an alcohol R′—OH in the presence of a catalyst to give said fatty acid alkyl ester and glycerol; and b) said glycerol is dehydrated catalytically to acrolein, wherein R is R 1 , R 2 and R 3 , and R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are all the same or some are the same or all are different and are each a straight-chain or branched, and optionally mono- or polyunsaturated C 10 -C 30 -alkyl radical, and R′ is a C 1 -C 10 -alkyl radical or a C 3 -C 6 -cycloalkyl radical.