Evolution of Technological Processes for the Production of Higher Fatty Alcohols from Natural and Petrochemical Raw Materials: History and Prospects (A Review)

Beginning in the 1930s, a number of technological processes were developed to saturate the market with affordable detergents; these processes are still used today, almost a century later. While various fractions of hydrogenated vegetable oils and spermaceti from cetaceans were initially used as raw materials for soap production, the use of petrochemical raw materials began in the mid-20th century largely due to the efforts of the scientific community and the development of chemical technologies and organic synthesis. To date, a number of methods have been introduced or are close to being introduced into industry: hydrogenation, the Bouveault–Blanc method, the Bashkirov method, the SHOP process, and the Ziegler process, and technologies for the biosynthesis of higher fatty alcohols from gas-chemical feedstocks. This paper aimed to summarize the accumulated experience of science and industry, observe currently available methodological approaches to the synthesis of higher fatty alcohols from various raw materials, demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches, and outline the prospects for the use of higher fatty alcohols and by-products of their synthesis in the Russian Federation.