ISONONYL ESTERS ON THE BASIS OF FATTY ACID MIXTURES CONSISTING OF VEGETABLE OILS

1 . An isononyl ester mixture comprising an epoxidized fatty acid mixture, the fatty acid mixture having been obtained from a vegetable oil,

wherein

a fraction of saturated fatty acids in the isononyl ester mixture is below a fraction of saturated fatty acids in the vegetable oil from which the fatty acids have been obtained, and

an average number of epoxide groups per fatty acid is greater than 1.00.

2 . The isononyl ester according to claim 1 , wherein the vegetable oil is soyabean oil.

3 . The isononyl ester mixture according to claim 1 , wherein the average number of epoxide groups per fatty acid is greater than 1.20.

4 . The isononyl ester mixture according to claim 1 , wherein the fraction of saturated fatty acids is less than 10 area %.

5 . A process for preparing an isononyl ester mixture according to claim 1 , comprising:

a1) recovering a fatty acid mixture from a vegetable oil,

b1) depleting the fraction of saturated fatty acids in the fatty acid mixture,

c1) epoxidizing the fatty acid mixture, and

d1) esterifying the fatty acid mixture with isononanol.

6 . A process for preparing an isononyl ester mixture according to claim 1 , comprising:

a2) recovering a fatty acid ester mixture from a vegetable oil,

b2) depleting the fraction of saturated fatty acid esters in the fatty acid ester mixture,

c2) epoxidizing the fatty acid ester mixture, and

d2) transesterifying the fatty acid ester mixture with isononanol.

7 . The process according to claim 5 , wherein the depletion takes place by distillation of the epoxidized esters.

8 . The isononyl ester mixture according to claim 1 , wherein the isononyl ester mixture is suitable as plasticizer for polymers.