Alkaline hydrolysis of wool fat (lanolin) in a medium of proton and aprotic solvents

The raw material being studied is the woolen fat of the sheep of the Edilbay fine-fleece and Kazakh arkharomeric fine-fleece, which is excreted when washing wool in primary wool processing plants (PWP) in the regions of Kazakhstan, such as Semipalatinsk, Aktyubinsk, Zhambyl and Tokmak. Earlier we obtained anhydrous lanolin from the fat of various factories of the PWP. In both cases, positive results were obtained and a certificate of compliance of anhydrous lanolin FS RK was obtained. In terms of its chemical composition, wool fat is a mixture of C10-C16 carboxylic acid esters with aliphatic, terpenic, triterpene and sterol alcohols. It also contains vitamins, proteins, sterols and other physiologically active compounds. In the hydrolysis of wool fat, a mixture of sterol alcohols, triterpene alcohols and fatty acid salts are assumed. Valuable among them are sterol alcohols, which constitute up to 29% of the sum of all alcohols. Cholesterol and its derivatives are the raw materials for the synthesis of steroid drugs. Salts of fatty acids are used as an emulsifier in pharmacy and cosmetology. The aim of this paper is to complete the saponification of wool fat and the separation of a mixture of sterol alcohols. We show the patterns of alkaline hydrolysis of wool fat in the liquid phase in the presence of mixtures of various solvents. As a solvent, the ethanol-water, isopropanol-water system in which wool fat is only partially dissolved has been studied. In the wool fat-alcohol-water-NaOH system, a stable emulsion is formed. Ways that prevent the formation of an emulsion are proposed.