Table 1. Surface basicity and catalytic activity of different metal glycerolates towards transesterification of crude Jatropha oil with ethanol.

Entry	Metal glycerolate	Surface basic strength	Conversiona (%)
1	MnGly	6.8 < H_ < 7.2	95.8
2	FeGly	4.8 < H_ < 6.8	12.0
3	CoGly	6.8 < H_ < 7.2	50.5
4	ZnGly	6.8 < H_ < 7.2	80.0

^aReaction conditions: reaction temperature (150 °C), feedstock-to-ethanol molar ratio (1:20), catalyst loading (6 wt.%) and reaction time (4 h).