13. Esters and fats Flashcards
solid and liquid fats
Fats are esters formed from organic acids with alcohol glycerol. Glycerol is triol, means it has three active –OH groups, and fats are formed when these three –OH react with fatty acids and called triglycerides. There are solid fats, which are saturated in which carbon-carbon bonds are single, has van deer waals’ forces, have high melting points. The liquid fats, are unsaturated have more than one carbon-carbon double bonds. It has weaker intermolecular forces and lower melting point
saponification of fats
Is the process that produces soap, usually from fats and lye. Vegetable oils and animal fats are the main materials that are saponified. Triglycerides are mixtures derived from diverse fatty acids, it can be converted to soap in either one or two steps process. In the one step process, the triglycerides is treated with a strong base e.g. lye, which accelerates the ester bond and releases the fatty acid salt and glycerol. This is the main process and method for producing glycerol. Soaps may be precipitated by salting it out with saturated sodium chloride. The saponification value is the amount of base required to saponify a fat sample. For soap making, the triglycerides are highly purified. Different nature of bases used in the production of soaps give distinct properties, ex. NaOH gives hard soap whereas KOH gives soft soap.
