anticoplanar - 16-3-2007 at 12:53
What conditions would be needed to create soap without the use of sodium hydroxide? Any ideas as to the pressure/temperature?
Thanks
Nicodem - 16-3-2007 at 13:01
Soap is sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids, so what other source of sodium or potassium cations do you propose? This is most important to
specify since the speed of the hydrolysis is very, very dependant on the nature of the counterion.
Klute - 16-3-2007 at 14:01
Wouldn't K,Na+ carbonates manadge to saponify triglycerides? Less effective than hydroxides, but with longer reaction time and higher temperatures, it
could give a decent yield, no?
Nicodem - 16-3-2007 at 14:18
Yes, at 140-150°C they should perform more or less equally good as hydroxydes at 100°C.
not_important - 16-3-2007 at 17:28
Just boiling an alkali carbonate solution with fats will result in hydrolysis of the fats and formation of soap. The carbonate itself undergoes a
small amount of hydrolysis, so there is a bit of hydroxide and 'H2CO3' in the solution. Boiling drives out the CO2, greatly aided by the escaping
steam. Takes some time, slower than starting with hydroxide, but it does go.