23,3 West and Gonzaga: Hydrogenation of Philippine Oils 291 



colorized by hydrogenation. The data given in Table 8 show 

 that, in hydrogenating for a definite period, increase in the 

 percentage of nickel catalyst gave a decrease in the iodine value 

 and an increase in the melting point. Although catalysts con- 

 taining 3 and even 5 per cent nickel were employed, the oil was 

 not reduced to a hard solid fat of high melting point. Probably 

 this was due to the fact that the hydrogenation was not con- 

 tinued for a sufficient length of time and, moreover, the oil 

 contained about 28 per cent of resin which had a very high 

 acid value. The acid value of the oil was determined before 

 hydrogenation and found to be 22.04. 



CATALYTIC HYDROGENATION 



The catalytic hydrogenation process is coming into more- 

 general use in synthetic organic chemistry where results of 

 reduction reactions are desired. The review of the literature 

 given by Maxted 18 and by Rideal and Taylor 19 shows the nu- 

 merous applications of this process, and Lewkowitsh 20 rec- 

 ommends it for the preparation of unsaturated acids for 

 identification. The old method of reducing compounds by treat- 

 ing them with a metal and an acid, or of dissolving them in 

 some solvent such as alcoholic hydrochloric acid and adding a 

 metal like zinc, is not entirely satisfactory because it is some- 

 what difficult to control the reaction and obtain the desired 

 degree of reduction. Catalytic hydrogenation can be controlled 

 to a certain extent, and in many reactions excellent results are 

 obtained. 



The hydrogenation apparatus and general laboratory proce- 

 dure used in this investigation of Philippine oils gave very 

 good results. The apparatus is easy to manipulate, and samples 

 of the hydrogenated product having the desired degree of satur- 

 ation are easily obtained. Probably this method would prove 

 useful for certain reductions in synthetic organic chemistry 

 where exact control of hydrogen absorption is required. 



SUMMARY 



A convenient and simple laboratory apparatus for the cata- 

 lytic hydrogenation of oils has been described. With this appa- 



" Maxted, E. B., Catalytic Hydrogenation and Reduction (1919). 

 -Rideal, E. K., and Taylor, H. S., Catalysis in Theory and Practxce 



(1 - 1 liwkowitsch, J., Chemical Technology and Analysis of Oils, Fats, 

 and Waxes 1 (1921) 589. 



