Trimyristin is an ester

Ester

Esters are chemical compounds derived by reacting an oxoacid with a hydroxyl compound such as an alcohol or phenol. Esters are usually derived from an inorganic acid or organic acid in which at least one -OH group is replaced by an -O-alkyl group, and most commonly from carboxylic acids and...

 with the chemical formula C₄₅H₈₆O₆. It is a saturated fat

Saturated fat

Saturated fat is fat that consists of triglycerides containing only saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids have no double bonds between the individual carbon atoms of the fatty acid chain. That is, the chain of carbon atoms is fully "saturated" with hydrogen atoms...

 which is the triglyceride

Triglyceride

A triglyceride is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids. There are many triglycerides, depending on the oil source, some are highly unsaturated, some less so....

 of myristic acid

Myristic acid

Myristic acid, also called tetradecanoic acid, is a common saturated fatty acid with the molecular formula CH312COOH. A myristate is a salt or ester of myristic acid....

. Trimyristin is found naturally in many vegetable fats and oils

Vegetable fats and oils

Vegetable fats and oils are lipid materials derived from plants. Physically, oils are liquid at room temperature, and fats are solid. Chemically, both fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, as contrasted with waxes which lack glycerin in their structure...

. Trimyristin is a white to yellowish-gray solid that is insoluble in water, but soluble in ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

, benzene

Benzene

Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....

, chloroform

Chloroform

Chloroform is an organic compound with formula CHCl3. It is one of the four chloromethanes. The colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid is a trihalomethane, and is considered somewhat hazardous...

, dichloromethane

Dichloromethane

Dichloromethane is an organic compound with the formula CH2Cl2. This colorless, volatile liquid with a moderately sweet aroma is widely used as a solvent. Although it is not miscible with water, it is miscible with many organic solvents...

, and ether

Diethyl ether

Diethyl ether, also known as ethyl ether, simply ether, or ethoxyethane, is an organic compound in the ether class with the formula . It is a colorless, highly volatile flammable liquid with a characteristic odor...

.

The isolation of trimyristin from powdered nutmeg

Nutmeg

The nutmeg tree is any of several species of trees in genus Myristica. The most important commercial species is Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia...

 is a common introductory-level college organic chemistry experiment. It is an uncommonly simple natural product extraction

Resource extraction

The related terms natural resource extraction both refer to the practice of locating, acquiring and selling natural resources....

 because nutmeg oil generally consists of over eighty percent trimyristin. Trimyristin makes up between 20-25% of the overall mass of dried, ground nutmeg. Separation is generally effected by steam distillation

Steam distillation

Steam distillation is a special type of distillation for temperature sensitive materials like natural aromatic compounds....

 and purification uses extraction from ether followed by distillation or rotary evaporation to remove the volatile solvent

Solvent

A solvent is a liquid, solid, or gas that dissolves another solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution that is soluble in a certain volume of solvent at a specified temperature...

. The extraction of trimyristin can also be done with diethyl ether at room temperature, due to its high solubility in the ether. The experiment is frequently included in curricula, both for its relative ease and to provide instruction in these techniques.