Oleic Acid → Stearic Acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

In the hydrogenation vessel, oleic acid (10 g, 35.4 mmol) were dissolved in 50 ml ethyl acetate. 1 g of 5% Pd—C were added and the vessel was connected to the hydrogenation apparatus and pressure was set at 50 psi for 6 hours. At the end of this period white precipitate of stearic acid was formed. To ensure total solubilization of stearic acid, 400 ml of ethyl acetate were added and the black precipitate was filtered out and washed with additional 100 ethyl acetate. The filtrate was removed which gave stearic acid in quantitative yield.

Provenance & Evidence