Antibacterial agents from waste grease: arylation of brown grease fatty acids with beechwood creosote and derivatization

Authors: Kazem Rostami, Masoud; Ryu, Victor; Wagner, Karen; Jones, Kerby; Mullen, Charles; Wyatt, Victor; WU, CHANGQING - University Of Delaware; Ashby, Richard - Rick; Fan, Xuetong; Ngo, Helen

Submitted to: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/9/2023
Publication Date: 11/30/2023
Citation: Kazem Rostami, M., Ryu, V.N., Wagner, K., Jones, K.C., Mullen, C.A., Wyatt, V.T., Wu, C., Ashby, R.D., Fan, X., Lew, H.N. 2023. Antibacterial agents from waste grease: Arylation of brown grease fatty acids with beechwood creosote and derivatization. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c05767.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c05767

Interpretive Summary: Household cooking and frying oils usually end up in landfills or are washed down the drainpipes along with wastewater and find their way to the sewer system forming accumulated bulks of brown-colored fatty mass, known as aggregated trap grease, that hinders and blocks the sewers. Aggregated trap grease as an undesired byproduct of food preparation processes provides various nutrients required for bacterial growth and hence its accumulation in landfills and sewage interceptors leads to further infestations, sanitary sewer overflow, unpleasant odors, larger municipal and environmental issues. Although aggregated trap grease is mainly considered as a problematic municipal waste, its fats can be recovered and converted to value-added antimicrobial products which this project introduces. Recycling of aggregated trap grease and its conversion to antimicrobial products can contribute to environmental remedies by reducing municipal pollution, lowering demands for crude oil, and providing economic benefits to municipalities, waste management industries and the public.

Technical Abstract: Trap grease is a common but problematic side-product of cooking and food production whose accumulation negatively impacts local municipalities and the environment. The present work elaborates on stepwise recycling and separation of free fatty acids (FFAs) from aggregated trap grease, their characterization, quantification, arylation with natural phenolics derived from beechwood, subsequent derivatizations, and conversion to amine-carrying fatty amides which display antibacterial properties against both Gram-positive and -negative bacteria.