490.    ----------------.[CHAUX, R.]  Synthetic Soap and Edible Fats.  Vol. 54, 1946, p. 308.

                  Naturally occurring animal and vegetable oils and fats, which form the normal source of soap and edible fats, are glycerides of straight-chain carboxylic acids containing an even number of C atoms in the molecule.  The Fischer-Tropsch process provides a means of preparing hydrocarbons with such characteristics predominating, and these products, obtained under suitable temperatures and pressure, are a source of a wide range of aliphatic chemicals, including fatty acids of the type required for soap and edible fat preparation.  The maximum production of such acids from the Fischer-Tropsch soft wax by catalytic oxidation was about 40,000 tons/yr. in Germany.  About 1,800 tons/yr., of edible fat were produced by reaction of the acids with glycerin, synthesized from propylene.  There was a total plant capacity for synthetic margarine production of about 7,000 tons/yr.  The synthetic soap had excellent lathering properties but left an unpleasant odor on the skin.  The synthetic edible fat was quite satisfactory in respect to taste and odor and was assimilated and utilized by the body in the normal manner, although the long-term effect is not yet known.  It had better keeping qualities than the natural product and was utilized particularly in the food supply in submarines.  Its production, however, is not economical since, under the best conditions, the production of 1 ton of synthetic soap or fat required consumption of 60-70 tons of coal.