In an
alcohol fermentation process, oil derived from
biomass is chemically converted into an extractant available for in situ removal of a product
alcohol such as
butanol from a
fermentation broth. The glycerides in the
oil can be chemically converted into a
reaction product, such as fatty acids, fatty alcohols, fatty amides,
fatty acid methyl esters,
fatty acid glycol esters, and hydroxylated triglycerides, and mixtures thereof, which forms a
fermentation product extractant having a
partition coefficient for a product
alcohol greater than a
partition coefficient of the oil of the
biomass for the product alcohol. Oil derived from a feedstock of an alcohol fermentation process can be chemically converting into the fermentation product extractant. The
oil can be separated from the feedstock prior to the feedstock being fed to a fermentation vessel, and the separated
oil can be chemically converted to a fermentation product extractant, which can then contacted with a fermentation product comprising a product alcohol, whereby the product alcohol is separated from the fermentation product.