In part two of this experiment the myristic acid is prepared from the trimyristin through hydrolysis. The experimenter’s objective in this part of the experiment is to synthesize myristic acid from the trimyristin in the first part of the experiment. In order to complete this, base promoted hydrolysis of an ester is used. The crude myristic acid is purified through recrystallization and then compared to the literature melting point. Sodium hydroxide is a strong base that can be added to fats or oils when heated. The ester bonds in the fats called triglycerides are hydrolyzed meaning they are broken down so that fatty acid salts can be produced [3]. In this experiment trimyristin undergoes an alkaline hydrolysis to generate the sodium salt of
