Hi, The mark scheme says it could be C17H35COOCH3 but I'm not sure why the methanol would react in this way to form this compound. What would the other products be?
Hi, The mark scheme says it could be C17H35COOCH3 but I'm not sure why the methanol would react in this way to form this compound. What would the other products be?
Thanks in advance
When making biodiesel the methanol does not react directly with the triester, but rather with the fatty acid conjugate bases that have been formed by bacid hydrolysis of the triester.
In your triester there are three different fatty acid conjugate bases that could be formed, as there are three different groups attached to the propan-1,2,3-triol.
The mark scheme gives you the first, C17H35COOCH3 but the other two products are C17H31COOCH3 and C17H29COOCH3