Clémence Queffélec, IMF (Functional Materials Engineering) team, Nantes University, France.

I am a lecturer in the IMF (Functional Materials Engineering) team at the CEISAM laboratory (Chemistry and Interdisciplinarity: Synthesis, Analysis, Modeling) at Nantes University. My research is very broad, ranging from plant-based bitumens to photocatalysis applied to various organic chemistry reactions. In 2025, I was awarded the ARKEMA Grand Prize by the French Academy of Sciences for my work on sustainable materials.

Within the framework of Infranalytics, we used FT-ICR MS to study the maleinization reaction of model oils. The chemical modification of vegetable oils via maleinization offers a promising pathway to sustainable bio-based materials for various industrial applications. However, the underlying mechanisms of the maleinization reaction, such as the "ene" reaction, the Diels-Alder reaction, and the radical reaction, remain poorly understood, which limits process optimization and its wider adoption.

By combining NMR and FT-ICR MS, we were able to elucidate the reaction mechanisms, quantify product distributions (where possible), and assess structural changes in model fatty acid esters and triglycerides. We then plan to apply this same approach to more complex vegetable oil samples.

Find out more: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2025.122469

Platform used: MassLor-LCP-A2MC, University of Lorraine