Question

Coconut oil upon alkaline hydrolysis gives:
(A) Glycol
(B) Alcohol
(C) Glycerol
(D) Ethylene oxide

Answer 1

Hint: The hydrolysis of fats and oils in alkaline medium is termed as saponification that means when oils and fats undergo hydrolysis in basic medium, formation of glycerol and salts of fatty acids takes place which forms soaps.

Complete Step by Step Solution:
Fatty acids: These are kind of carboxylic acids with long aliphatic chains that may be saturated or unsaturated. Fatty acids structurally consist of fats, oils and lipids except steroids.
Coconut oil is composed of fatty acids like capric acid, oleic acid, caprylic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, lauric acid, etc. which upon alkaline hydrolysis will undergo saponification reaction. In Saponification reaction, when fatty acids are hydrolysed in basic medium, the free hydroxide ions of the base are responsible for the cleavage of the ester bonds between the fatty acids and glycerol due to which formation of free fatty acids which on further reaction with cation of the base to form corresponding salt and glycerol.
The reaction can be represented as:
${\rm{Coconut \ oil + Base \ }} \to {\rm{ Soap \ + \ }}{\rm{Glycerol}}$
Hence, option (C) is the correct option.

Note: It is important to note that oils and fats are not similar terms. The actual difference between fats and oils is of composition i.e., fats are usually formed of high amounts of saturated fatty acids which will take a solid form at room temperature whereas oils are usually formed of unsaturated fatty acids which will remain in liquid form at room temperature.