Which Reaction Components Are Present In The Ir Spectrum Of Methyl Oleate

Hydrogenation
Student: Alex Burton
CHEM 243a – Section 2
TA: Dmytro Bandak
Date Preformed: June 22, 2015
Date Submitted: June 25, 2015

Question:
1. For the hydrogenation reaction, which phases of matter are present, and which reaction components are present in which phase?
The purpose of the experiment is to turn methyl oleae, which is a monounsaturated fatty acid, into a solid saturated fat via catalytic hydrogenation by using hydrogen gas and the catalyst Pd/C. Pd/C is an insoluble in the solvent making it easy to filter out the catalyst. Hydrogenation take time using hydrogen gas unless there is a catalysis to speed up the process, by lowing the activation energy, which then in turn converts the unsaturated fatty acid, methyl oleate, into a saturated fatty acid, methyl stearate. Catalytic hydrogenation is a heterogeneous reaction due to the different phases such as solid, liquid, and gas phases.

Which peaks are present in the IR spectrum of methyl oleate and methyl stearate? What is the main difference and why?
The difference between methyl oleate and stearate is methyl oleate doesn’t have a double bond (C=C) or the H-C=C which are shown on the methyl oleate IR graph in the lab manual. Methyl oleate is an unsaturated fatty acid, which has a C=C functional group, hydrocarbons, and an ester group. Compared to methyl stearate, which only has an ester functional group. Methyl oleate has a lower melting point than methyl stearate due to the double bond C=C causing less freedom of movement in the molecule. On the other hand Methyl stearate has more freedom of movement on the carbon chain it needs more energy to break the