Introduction

Fats, oils, and waxes are naturally occurring esters of

long straight-chain carboxylic acids. They belong to
the saponifiable group of lipids.
Lipids are biologically produced materials that are
relatively insoluble in water but soluble in organic
solvents (benzene, chloroform, acetone, ether, and
the like). The saponifiable lipids contain an ester group
and react with hot sodium hydroxide solution
undergoing hydrolysis (saponification):
 No reaction (unsaponifiable)
no ester group

Lipids
(hot NaOH solution)

Hydrolysis reaction(saponifiable)
contains ester group
Saponification is a chemical process in
which an ester is heated with aqueous
alkali (sodium hydroxide) to form an
alcohol and the sodium salt of the acid
corresponding to the ester. The sodium
salt formed is
called soap.
Fats and oils are esters of glycerol, the
simplest triol (tri-alcohol), in which each of
the three hydroxyl groups has been
converted to an ester.
The acid portion of the ester linkage (fatty
acids) usually contains an even number of
carbon atoms in an unbranched chain of
12 to 24 carbon atoms.
The triesters of glycerol fats and oils are
also known as triglycerides.
The difference between fats and oils is merely
one of melting point:
fats are solid at room temperature (20 C)
whereas oils are liquids. Both classes of
compounds are triglycerides.
As glycerol is common to all fats and oils,
whether animal or vegetable, it is the fatty acid
part of the fat (oil) that is of interest. The
differences among triglycerides (fats and oils)
are because of the length of the hydro-
carbon chains of the acids and the number of
position of double bonds(unsaturation).
The hydrocarbon chains of the fatty acids may
be completely saturated (saturated fat) or
may contain one or more double bonds. The
geometric configuration of the double bond
in fats and oils is normally cis, If the chain
includes more than one double bond, the fat
is called polyunsaturated.
The presence of a double bond puts a kink
in the regular zigzag arrangement
characteristic of saturated carbons. Because
of this kink in the chains, the molecules
cannot form a neat, compact lattice and tend
to coil, so unsaturated triglycerides often
melt below room temperature and are thus
classified as oils.
 Sunscreen
– Physical Blockers (broad spectrum)
• Zinc Oxide and Titanium Oxide (absorbs,
reflects & scatters)
• Micronized
• How absorption is done
– Organic chemicals degrade
• How much energy is absorbed
– Depends upon the SPF and the individual’s
skin type
 Sunglasses
• Glass
– Passes only visible light
• Polycarbonates
– Add chemicals to polycarbonate to perform absorption
• Tinting
– Coating outside of lens performs the absorption
• Photochromic
– Bi-directional chemical process changes size of
molecule that absorbs visible light
– Introduction of UV light starts chemical process
– Splits silver halide into silver and halide
Questions?