Question

1. Can trimyristin be classified as a saturated fat? (Consider the structural feature present in unsaturated fats?)

Answer 1

If the carboxylic acid portion of the fat contains no alkene groups, the fat is said to be saturated. If one alkene group is present the fat is monounsaturated. If more than one alkene is present the fat is polyunsaturated. In a monounsaturated fat, if the alkene is one carbon in from the far end of the long chain (away from the ester group), the fat is said to contain omega-1 (read as omega minus one – omega refers to the end of the chain so omega-1 refers to one carbon in from the end) fatty acids. Trimyristin is a saturated fat.

In chemistry, "saturated" just means that a molecule has as many hydrogen atoms stuck on it as possible. What this means in practical terms is that there are no double-bonds between the carbons in the "tails" of the trimyristin. What this leads to in terms of physical properties, is that these molecules can pack together better than unsaturated molecules, making them more likely to be solids at room temperature.

Trimyristin is an ester with the chemical formula C₄₅H₈₆O₆. It is a saturated fatwhich is the triglyceride of myristic acid. Trimyristin is a white to yellowish-gray solid that is insoluble in water, but soluble in ethanol, benzene, chloroform,dichloromethane, and ether.

What are the main types of fatty acids?

There are three main types of fatty acids: saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. All fatty acids are chains of carbon atoms with hydrogen atoms attached to the carbon atoms.

A saturated fatty acid has the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms attached to every carbon atom. It is therefore said to be "saturated" with hydrogen atoms, and all of the carbons are attached to each other with single bonds.

In some fatty acids, a pair of hydrogen atoms in the middle of a chain is missing, creating a gap that leaves two carbon atoms connected by a double bond rather than a single bond. Because the chain has fewer hydrogen atoms, it is said to be "unsaturated." A fatty acid with one double bond is called "monounsaturated" because it has one gap. Fatty acids having more than one gap are called "polyunsaturated."

The fat in foods contains a mixture of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. In foods of animal origin, a large proportion of fatty acids are saturated. In contrast, in foods of plant origin and some seafood, a large proportion of the fatty acids are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. The structure of saturated and unsaturated chemical bonds looks like the diagram below.

Saturated Fat (i.e., saturated fatty acid)	Unsaturated Fat (i.e., unsaturated fatty acid)
H H | | -C - C- | | H H	H H | | -C = C-
Carbon-Carbon Single Bond	Carbon-Carbon Double Bond