Abstract: The research progress of isomerization of straight unsaturated fatty acids to branched-chain isomers is summarized, and the mechanism of the formation of branched-chain isomers, the isomerizing catalyst used such as clay and zeolite, the principle of screening for the catalyst are reviewed. All sorts of zeolite commonly used for fatty acids isomerization reaction and existing synthesis processes are discussed. Some kinds of separation technologies for fatty acids are compared, including distillation separation, solvent crystallization, urea complexation and supercritical fluid extraction. The key issue of zeolite-catalyed process of branched-chain fatty acids is to resolve the reaction selectivity problem when mixed fatty acids are used as raw materials. Related basic studies, such as more explicit reaction mechanism and effects of catalyst structure parameters on the reaction, are the future research directions.

Key words: straight unsaturated fatty acids, catalytic isomerization, branch chain, separation technology

摘要： 介绍了直链不饱和脂肪酸制备支链脂肪酸的研究现状，综述了脂肪酸异构机理，异构催化剂如白土催化剂、沸石催化剂，催化剂的筛选原则，着重讨论了各种常用沸石对于脂肪酸异构反应不同的影响以及现有的合成工艺。分析了脂肪酸的分离技术,包括精馏分离法、溶剂结晶法、尿素包结法、超临界流体萃取法的优缺点，指出沸石催化生产支链饱和脂肪酸的关键问题是需要解决混合脂肪酸作为原料反应的选择性问题，其相关的基础性工作，如更明确的反应机理和催化剂结构参数对反应的影响，仍是将来的研究方向。

关键词: 直链不饱和脂肪酸, 催化异构, 支链化, 分离技术