ISOLASI METIL LAURAT DARI MINYAK KELAPA SEBAGAI BAHAN BAKU SURFAKTAN FATTY ALCOHOL SULFATE (FAS)

Isolation of Methyl Laurate from Coconut Oil as Raw Material for Fatty Alcohol Sulfate. Methyl laurate is a rawor base material for many industries, including surfactant industries. In this research, coconut oil (VCO) istransesterified with methanol to produce methyl ester, using NaOH as the catalyst. Methyl laurate is then separated bymethod based on the difference in melting point. This research focuses at determining the effects of some variables intransesterification on the concentration of produced methyl laurate. The variables are temperature (40 oC, 50 oC, 60 oC,80 oC), time of transesterification reaction (0,5 hour, 1 hour, 1,5 hours, 2 hours, 3 hours), and the percent weight of thecatalyst NaOH (0,5 %, 1 %, 1,5 %, 2 %, 3 %). Research showed the concentration of methyl laurate increased,following the increased temperature, time, and percent weight of catalysts. Optimal conditions were acquired at reactiontemperature of 60oC, reaction time of 2 hours, and percent weight of the catalyst NaOH of 2 %. Laurate acid conversionto methyl laurate that yielded from optimal conditions, after the separation based on melting point, was 55,61 %.Keywords: methyl laurate, coconut oil, fatty alcohol sulfate, transesterificatio