Suppose you have a mixture mostly comprised of saturated fatty acids of carbon chain length C10-C20. Is there a process to convert them to unsaturated fatty acids?
The opposite process is well known. Margarine is produced via hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids to obtain saturated fatty acids. Is there something like a dehydrogenation process for saturated fatty acids?
If this process is feasible, could it be done in a targeted manner to yield mostly Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids?
Kindly check https://www.jbc.org/content/239/8/2496.full.pdf
Kindly check https://www.jbc.org/content/239/8/2496.full.pdf
Also check http://chemistry.elmhurst.edu/vchembook/558hydrogenation.html
It is much easier to bind hydrogen to the carbon chain of an acid molecule than to remove it. In addition, it takes a lot of energy. The most important thing, however, is the selectivity of such a process, and strictly no selectivity. If there are 20 carbon atoms in the chain, it is not known which hydrogen atoms will be removed. But fortunately there are enough Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids in nature, mostly in the form of esters.
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