Isolation of Trimyristin Lab Results PP

Trimyristin was extracted from nutmeg via separation and purification procedures using heat and tert-butyl methyl ether. 0.309 grams of crude trimyristin was produced, which resulted in a 31.99% yield. 0.124 grams of trimyristin crystals were produced after recrystallization, which resulted in a 40.13% yield.The melting point of the crude product turned out to be 53-54 ˚C. A second recrystallization was performed and had produced 0.037 grams, which resulted in a 29.84% yield. The melting point obtained for the second recrystallization was 55-56 ˚C (Table 1). Both of the recrystallization melting points obtained were within two degrees, indicating relative purity. However, in both cases, the observed melting points was lower than the expected trimyristin melting point of 56-57 ˚C. This slight difference in the melting point suggests that there might have been a slight contamination during the experiment. The melting point of the second recrystallization was closer to the expected value, suggesting that the product had less impurities than the first recrystallization product. These results suggest that the obtained product is trimyristin.