Trimyristin Closing

Overall, the percent yields were high and the melting points were close to the literature values, suggesting a good return on product and a relative purity in the samples. The first recrystallization experiment used a set amount of acetone, 1 ml for every 50mg of crude product from the isolation. As a result, the percent yield was the lowest of the experiment. If the experiment were to go about obtaining the purest samples, this stage of the experiment should have been conducted by using the minimum amount of acetone necessary to dissolve the product. This would have given a higher percent yield and may also have given a better purity and thereby a closer match for melting point. In the end, the identity and purity of the products were assessed for what they were, and the product after both recrystallization steps was identified as trimyristin and the product after the hydrolysis and acid addition was identified as myristic acid.