Description

• Methanolic HCl (hydrogen chloride in methanol) is particularly useful for preparing methyl esters of volatile (short chain) fatty acids
• Fatty acids are esterified by heating them with an anhydrous alcohol (e.g., methanol) in the presence of an acidic catalyst (e.g., HCl) in a sealed vessel at a high temperature for a short time
• In the reaction, a fatty acid molecule and an alcohol molecule are joined, with the release of a water molecule
• The derivatives can be quickly and easily recovered, quantitatively, from the reaction medium.