High-melting point sediment from refined coconut oil stored in a tank for a long term

A small amount of sediment occurs in refined coconut oil stored in a large-scale tank for a long term. This sediment is different from that generally called Cocos Wax, is insoluble in various organic solvents, and has an m.p. of about 100 degrees C. In this report, we have done a structural analysis of this sediment. The sediment was carried out by hydrolyzing with a KOH/ethyl alcohol solution including toluene. Samples were analyzed by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, EI-MS, CI-MS, field desorption mass spectrometry (FD-MS), and MALDI/TOF-MS. The hydrolyzates were a compound including an oxo group, and its relative molecular mass was 382 for the acid part and 412 for the unsaponified matter according to EI-MS (ionization energy was 70 eV and 15 eV) and CI-MS (reagent gases were i-butane, ammonia, and nitrogen monoxide). The relative molecular mass of the sediment was 1140 according to the mass spectrometry of FD, EI, and MALDI. It was elucidated based on the characteristic absorption analysis by IR and the fragmentation behavior of the EI-MS that the sediment was a wax ester, 3, 9-di-9-oxotetradocosanecarboxy-11-oxohexacosane, consisting of an acid part of 9-oxotetradocosanecarboxylic acid and an unsaponified matter of 3, 9-di-hydroxy-11-oxohexacosane.