Question

Why does saponification produce sodium lactate (and not lactic acid) as the final product??

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

Hello,

Saponification chemical reactions are defined as such reactions between either potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide and a fatty acid to break hydroxiles in order to attach sodium or potassium to the organic chain. They are a type of esterification chemical reaction.

In this case, lactic acid reacts with sodium hydroxide as shown below:

`CH_3CHOHCOOH+NaOH-->CH_3CHOHCOONa+H_2O`

As it is seen, sodium lactate is produced rather than lactic acid due to the easiness that the hydroxile has to break and to subsequently attract the ionized sodium to form the lactate, even do, free sodium cations easily break the hydroxile and form sodium lactate.

Best regards.

Answer 2

Sodium lactate is the simple salt created by reacting lactic acid with a base that contains sodium for saponification NaOH is used. This is an acid-base reaction, not a fermentation reaction. Hope this answers the question. Have a nice day.