Water → Sodium Behenate

Participants

Reaction Steps

In an amount of 88 kg of the recrystallized behenic acid, 422 L of distilled water, 49.2 L of 5 mol/L aqueous solution of NaOH and 120 L of tert-butyl alcohol were mixed and allowed to react at 75° C. for one hour with stirring to obtain a solution of sodium behenate. Separately, 206.2 L of an aqueous solution containing 40.4 kg of silver nitrate (pH 4.0) was prepared and kept at 10° C. A mixture of 635 L of distilled water and 30 L of tert-butyl alcohol contained in a reaction vessel kept at 30° C. was added with the whole volume of the aforementioned sodium behenate solution and the whole volume of the aqueous silver nitrate solution with sufficient stirring at constant flow rates over the periods of 93 minutes and 15 seconds and 90 minutes, respectively.

Provenance & Evidence