CTfrog

Biodiesel production

Your edit to this main was reverted as the justification provided was vague. To the best of my knowledge, this reaction type is indeed, SN2. If you know the reaction to be something other than an SN2 reaction, please provide justification (and a source, preferably).--E8 (talk) 20:08, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

• Please scan and email me the text page(s) you mentioned. Doing a Google search using the keywords "sn2" and "biodiesel" will net a number of sources that indicate biodiesel transesterification does proceed through the SN2 pathway. In fact Wayne Davies, a PhD chemical engineer and (former?) [teacher at the University of Sydney] named his [Biodiesel consulting firm - SN2]. According to his page, "[t]he company name SN2 was derived from chemist's shorthand for "bimolecular nucleophilic substitution" this being one of the reaction pathways that occur in transesterification for making biodiesel." Thus, given the differing claims, I'm left more confused. This is outside my area of expertise, but I would like know definitively how this reaction works.--E8 (talk) 02:29, 4 May 2008 (UTC)