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1- Preparation and composition of soaps:

 Raw materials:
Soap is produced by a process called saponification.
Saponification: is the synthesis of soap starting from fats and oils.
Reaction: fats/oils (triglycerides: tri-esters) + base  soap + glycerol

A. Fats and Oils:

Fats come from animals and oils come from vegetables.
Fats and oils contain mainly triglycerides, tri-esters: fruit odor, (98%) that enter in the
saponification reaction.
Triglycerides result from the esterification reaction:
Fatty acid + Alcohol  Ester + Water
Comparison between fats and oils
Fats Oils
Animal origin Plant origin
Solid at room temperature. Liquid at room temperature. Differences
Unsaturated. More Unsaturated.
Insoluble in water

Soluble in organic substances

Similarities
Organic substance

Density < 1

B. Fatty acids:
Organic acids can be produced by hydrolysis of fats and oils under appropriate
conditions. Fats / Oils +H2O Fatty acids (under certain conditions)
Linear carbon chain with a number of carbon ranging between 4 and 22.
Can be saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons.
 They belong to the family of carboxylic acids.
They have general formula:
R - COOH
hydrocarbon chain (alkyl group)

or simply R-COOH

Saturated hydrocarbon chain

Unsaturated hydrocarbon
chain
NOTICE: the number of carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon chain must:
 be even
 Ranges between (4 and 22)
 Each fatty acid is symbolized by 2 numbers (X; Y)
(X= number of C atoms ; Y= degree of unsaturation or number of double covalent
bonds).
Ex: Oleic acid (olive oil): (18, 1)
lauric acid (n=12) – Structural formula: C12 H24 O2

C. Base:
 Can be sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or potassium hydroxide (KOH).
 Soap obtained from KOH: Liquid soap.
 Soap obtained from NaOH: Hard soap.

 Products of saponification reaction

A. Glycerol:
It is also called Glycerin.
It belongs to the family of Alcohols.
It is obtained as a byproduct from Saponification reaction.
It is used as a moisturizer for skin.
Its formula is:

B. Soap:
Different types of fats and oils give different type of soap.
Medium: basic (pH >7)
Characteristics of saponification reaction
- Complete
- exothermic (produce heat)
- slow (heated about 80c˚ to increase the rate of the reaction).

C. Triglyceride
They belong to the family of ester
They can be obtained from esterification reaction that occurs between an alcohol and a
carboxylic acid.
Alcohol + Carboxylic acid Ester + Water
They are the major components of fats and oils
They have a general formula:

R1, R2, R3 could be same or different.

Since fats and oils are esters, they can react with water to produce fatty acids.
D. Making soap in the laboratory
1. preparing the mixture

Oil Basic solution Two immiscible liquids

2. Adding alcohol: Alcohol (ethanol) is added to make the basic solution and the oil miscible

3. Heating for some time :

The saponification reaction is slow: heating speeds up the reaction

4. Cooling:
 5. precipitating and filtrating the soap:
add very concentrated salt solution (brine solution) to the reaction mixture, to
precipitate the soap.
Adding salty solution increases the [Na+] in the solution, this favors backword
direction (direction of precipitation of soap)
- +
RCOONa RCOO + Na

Summary:

 Constituents of soap (ingredients)

- Sodium salt of fatty acid (soap).
- Free (unreacted) sodium hydroxide / potassium hydroxide.
- Sodium chloride (NaCl).
- Glycerol and water.

 Additives of soap
- Perfume, coloring agents
- foaming agents
- glycerol (skin moisturizer)
- antioxidants (increase the shelf life of soap)
- complexing agents as EDTA Ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (reduce water
hardness).
1.2- Solubility of soap in water (soft and hard):
Interaction of soap with water used:
 Soft water: is either free of, or contains a very small concentration of these ions.
- Soap is soluble: Formation of foam and the soap can clean easily.

Soap is not highly soluble(moderately) in water. It dissolves in water according to the

equation:

 Hard water: contains calcium ions (Ca2+) and Magnesium ions (Mg2+).
- Soap is insoluble: No formation of foam; instead: formation of scum

What happens when soap is used with hard water?

When soap is used with hard water, the Ca2+ ions and Mg2+ ions react with soap to produce
precipitate called scum that causes:
- Clogging of pipes
- Clothes are not soft and not clean as desired
- Hair tangles
- Skin becomes dry
- Formation of spots on glasses and dishes