Fat/Oil + Sodium\, Hydroxide \rightarrow Soap + Glycerol\) Fats and oils are esters made from glycerol and long chain fatty acids. Consider the hydrolysis of this triglyceride found in animal fat.

To make an ester, a hydrogen atom must be removed from the hydroxyl group (–OH) of the alcohol. The –OH portion of the acid's carboxyl group must also be removed. The hydrogren atom and the ...

alcohol dehydration and other acid-catalysed processes. Sussman was less successful with ester hydrolysis, and attributes this to the poor contact attainable in the three-phase system ester ...