Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Myristic Acid from Isopropyl myristate?

NEMO-Chemistry - 14-8-2017 at 05:54

Looking on wikipedia....

It mentions

"The hydrolysis of the ester from isopropyl myristate can liberate the acid and the alcohol"

So how would I go about separating Myrsitic Acid from Isopropyl myristate? If its possible.......

Sorry if this is a really dopey question, but Isopropyl myristate is cheap and easy to get and Myristic Acid dosnt seem to be so cheap and easy for me to get.

UC235 - 14-8-2017 at 11:01

Generally with cosmetic chemicals, you need to read the fine print. For example, "stearic acid" is usually 45:55 stearic:palmitic acids with small amounts of unsaturated fats and a bit of my myristic acid.

I'm uncertain if isopropyl myristate is all that pure, but I would expect 90-95% at best since isopropyl laurate and palmitate will behave identically.

As for practical isolation, saponify it with alcoholic KOH, acidify, and recrystallize the waxy solid from alcohol, possibly with a small amount of water added.

NEMO-Chemistry - 14-8-2017 at 15:47

Quote: Originally posted by UC235  
Generally with cosmetic chemicals, you need to read the fine print. For example, "stearic acid" is usually 45:55 stearic:palmitic acids with small amounts of unsaturated fats and a bit of my myristic acid.

I'm uncertain if isopropyl myristate is all that pure, but I would expect 90-95% at best since isopropyl laurate and palmitate will behave identically.

As for practical isolation, saponify it with alcoholic KOH, acidify, and recrystallize the waxy solid from alcohol, possibly with a small amount of water added.


Thanks thats really helpful, sounds alot like making bio diesel lol. Could explain why Myristic acid ids so expensive.

UC235 - 14-8-2017 at 16:02

Myristic acid is a byproduct from fractionating other fats (palm, coconut, and palm kernel primarily) for other cosmetic/industrial use. There's no particularly good source of it (that is cheap, that is. The fat in nutmegs is about 90% glyceryl trimyristate and can be recrystallized to high purity with relative ease. I've done it using hexanes in place of ether. http://www.orgsyn.org/Content/pdfs/procedures/CV1P0538.pdf)

In huge bulk, $4/lb is not terrible. >98% myristic acid. http://store.acme-hardesty.com/product/10/myristic-acid


<i>Edit by moderator : Fixed link</i>

[Edited on 8-15-2017 by gdflp]