Vibrational spectroscopic studies on the acid salts of myristic acid and palmitic acid

Fatty acids and their alkali soaps were well known as the biosurfactants in living system, however, little work had been published on the fatty acid-soap complexes, which were suggested here to have some unusual structures and properties. The acid sodium salts and acid potassium salts in molar ratio of 1 : 1 of both myristic acid and palmitic acid were investigated by FTIR and FT-Raman spectroscopies. The spectral results showed that very strong hydrogen bonds existed in these long-chain acid salts. In this paper, the possible structures of acid soaps were discussed according to spectroscopic data.