the ozone generator was switched off the reaction mixture was allowed to warm up to room temperature and then washed with about 500 ml distilled water to remove any excess unreacted ethylene glycol the caco 3 catalyst was then filtered out through a fine filter paper and the product was dried over molecular sieves for 48 hours the product mixture was characterized by ftir and nmr and the results indicate that 27 5 of the double bonds have been cleaved hydroxyl functionality defined here as the average number of hydroxyl groups in 1 mole of triglyceride was derived from the hydroxyl number defined according to astm test method d1957 86 as the number of mg of potassium hydroxide equivalent to acetic anhydride consumed in the acetylation of 1 g of sample was 0 25 the polyol product mixture was stable for 1 month at room temperature and no visible phase separation was observed soybean oil 200 g ethylene glycol 150 g and caco 3 20 gr were placed in a 500 ml glass reactor and maintained at 0 u00b0 c in an ice water bath under continuous stirring ozone was produced as described in example 1 and was fed into the reactor through the fritted disc as small bubbles at a flow rate of 0 35 ft 3 min the exhaust outlet from the reactor was connected to a potassium iodide aqueous solution trap in order to destroy excess ozone that has not been reacted after 100 minutes reaction time the ozone generator was switched off the reaction mixture was allowed to warm up to room temperature and then washed with about 500 ml distilled water to remove any excess unreacted ethylene glycol the caco 3 catalyst was then filtered out through a.