Laurie acid vegetable oils

Laurie acid is a fatty carboxylic acid isolated from vegetable and animal fats or oils. For example, coconut oil and palm kernel oil both contain high proportions of lauric acid. Isolation from natural fats and oils involves hydrolysis, separation of the fatty acids, hydrogenation to convert unsaturated fatty acids to saturated acids, and finally distillation of the specific fatty acid of interest. 

Vegetable oils according to their major fatty acid composition can be subclassified into laurics and oleics. Lauries comprise coconut oil and palm-kernel oil. Laurics mainly contain saturated C12 and C14 fatty acid triglycerides, the raw material basis for surfactants. Oleics mainly contain unsaturated Cie and Cig fatty acid triglycerides. Apart from food, which is the predominant use, they deliver lubricants and base oils, which can be used for energy generation, fuel, nutrition and specialty chemical derivatives. 

You are to synthesize the ethyl ester of lauric add in Experiment [8A]. Laurie acid, CH3(CH2)ioC02H (dodecanoic acid), is one of the four most common fatty acids found in naturally occurring triglycerides. It is named for the laurel botanical family from which it was first isolated in 1842. It is the most abundant of the fatty acids isolated from the vegetable oils of palm kernel oil (52%), the seed fat of Elaeis guineensis of coconut oil (48%), Cocos nucifera and of babassu oil (A6%), Attalea funifera. 

Laurie Acid lor-ik-, llar- n [ISV, fr. L laurus] (1873) CH3(CH2)ioCOOH. Fatty acid occurring in many vegetable fats as the glyceride, especially in cocoanut oil and laurel oil. It has a sp gr of 0.833, mp of 44°C, and refractive index of 1.4323. Also called Dodecanoic Acid. 

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