74 



MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 151. 



Free Alcohols. 

 ROH + (CH3CO).0 = CH3COOR-rCH3COOH 



monobasic 

 alcohol 



acetate 

 of alcohol 



Examples: 



CHsCOOR -rKOH = ROH +CH3COOK 

 Cholesterol, phytosterol, C2THioOH 



Considerable variation is possible in \niting the above formulas which, 

 at best, poorly express the structure. In some instances the reaction is 

 indicated at some sacrifice of form. 



Calctlated Data from the Acetyl Number. 

 The acetyl number (c) senses to measure the amount of hydroxy' com- 

 pounds in an oU, fat or wax; and in case only one such compound of 

 known molecular weight (m) and nmnber of hydroxA'ls (d) is present, 

 its amount (H) can be readily calculated by the following formula : — 



H = 



56108 d 



The derivation of the formula is comparatively simple. The theoreti- 

 cal acetyl number of a compound containing (d) hydroxyl groups is — 



56108 d 

 m 



The amount of such a compound in an oil, fat or wax is, therefore — 



c cm 



56108 d 



The same resiilts may be calculated more easily from the following table, 

 dividing the determined acetyl number by the theoretical acetyl niunber, 

 or multiphing by its reciprocal : — 



Acetyl Xurnber on Original Product {Massachusetts Method). 



Glycerides. 



