Ziegler process

In organic chemistry, the Ziegler process (also called the Ziegler-Alfol synthesis) is a method for producing fatty alcohols from ethylene using a organoaluminium catalyst. The reaction produces linear primary alcohols with an even numbered carbon chain. The process uses an aluminum catalyst to oligomerize ethylene and allow the resulting alkyl group to be oxygenated. The usually targeted products are fatty alcohols, which are otherwise derived from natural fats and oils. Fatty alcohols are used in food and chemical processing. They are useful due to their amphipathic nature. The synthesis route is named after Karl Ziegler, who described the process in 1955.