Any compound fonned by the reaction of a water insoluble fatty acid with a metallic radical or with an organic base may be called as soap. Soaps used for cleaning purpose are sodium or potassium salts of long chain fatty acids, e.g., palmitic, lauric, stearic and oleic acids. Soaps arc generally obtained by the hydrolysis of oils and fats with aqueous alkali. This reaction is called saponification
Synthetic detergents are cleansing agents which have all the properties of soaps, but they actually do not contain any soap. A synthetic detergent is the sodium salt of a long chain alkyl hyydrogen sulphate or the sodium salt of a long chain benzene sulphonic acid.
The reaction between alkali and fat is called:
A. hydrolysis
B. dehydration
C. saponification
D. rancidity
