Setting up sand bath is the first thing to do, turning it up to about 30 but not higher. Weigh and take about ground nutmeg (1g). Then use a round-bottomed flask and with the help of a funnel, transfer the nutmeg over into the flask. Add tert-butyl methyl ether (3 mL) and add a few boiling chips. Use plastic connector then distillate using air condenser. Use the small three-pronged clamp to help assist. Allow the mixture to boil very gently and the mixture with nutmeg will boil violently. Make sure it doesn’t bump out of the flask. Heat it for about 10 minutes then remove from the heat and let it sit to cool down. Micro-scale filtration needs to be done after using a tiny plug of cotton in a glass pipet. Also, use a clean and dry Erlenmeyer flask (25 mL) Once it is all done, remove the condenser, tip the round-bottomed flask and transfer it over to the top of the filtration apparatus. Let gravity take care of the rest, but when it becomes slower, gently squeeze to apply pressure to complete the filtration. After repeating to get everything transferred out, add fresh tert-butyl methyl ether (2 mL) and do the same steps. That is called rinsing. It will help ensure that no trimyristin is left behind. Use gentle stream of air over the solution so all the solvent will evaporate. Yellowish solid should now remain. This is the crude trimyristin. Raise the sand bath to 30 again and recrystallize trimyristin. Crude trimyristin should be air dried for another 5 minutes. Then add acetone (1 mL) per crude (50 mg). Crystals should now start forming, but if it is not then scratch the inside surface a bit with glass stirring rod. Use ice water bath and let it sit for 15 minutes. Collect crystals now by vacuum filtration. Cover the crystals with ice-cold acetone (1 mL) and allow air to pass over the crystals. Hydrolysis now must happen using trimyristin (60 mg) and use new clean RB flask. Add 6 M sodium hydroxide (2 mL) and 95% ethanol (2 mL). Use boiling chips once again and put it on the sand bath for 45 minutes. During hydrolysis time, recrystallize the remaining trimyristin a second time but do it with room temperature for 10 minutes. Collect the MP and weight. After 45 minutes passes by, allow the flask to cool to room temperature and put it in a beaker with water (8 mL). Then carefully drop hydrogen chloride (2 mL), myristic acid should disappear by precipitation. Cool the beaker after for 10 minutes and stir it. Filtration happens and crystals starts to show. Let it dry overnight and weigh it and take MP (also the % yield).
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