Alkyl-tetralin base oils synthesized from coal-based chemicals and evaluation of their lubricating properties

Naphthenic base oil is an important lubricating base oil and very scarce in the global petroleum resources. Herein, a series of alkylated tetralin fluids similar to naphthenic base oils were produced by the alkylation of tetralin and a-olefins (n-hexene, n-octene, n-decene) with ionic liquid Et3NHCl/AlCl3 as the catalyst, where the applied raw materials are totally derived from the coal chemical industry. The product composition could be controlled by adjusting the feeding ratio of tetralin and olefin. The syn-thetic fluids were evaluated as lubricating base oils to reveal the structure-property correlations. Their principal physicochemical and tribological properties depend on the chain-length of a-olefins and the number of alkyl groups onto the aromatic rings. Bis-(octyl-or decyl-) alkyl tetralin exhibited good prop-erties in terms of viscosity, thermo-oxidation stability and pour point, as well as friction-reducing and anti-wear performance, showing great potential for producing naphthenic base synthetic oils from coal-based chemicals.(c) 2023 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A series of alkylated tetralin fluids resembling naphthenic base oils were synthesized using tetralin and α-olefins as raw materials derived from the coal chemical industry. The product composition could be controlled by adjusting the feed ratio. The synthesized fluids showed promising properties as lubricating base oils, highlighting the potential for producing naphthenic base synthetic oils from coal-based chemicals.