TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The solvent is chilled water.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Process: The lithium base is dissolved in alcohol and subsequently the alkaline alcohol solution is blended with the oil fat or grease. The excess monohydric aliphatic alcohol is used and the alkyl ester and unreacted aliphatic alcohol are removed before step b). The excess alcohol added to the reaction is in an amount greater than 15 wt.% of the weight of the oil, fat or grease. The lithium soap particles form as a side product in step a) and the lithium soap particles so formed are removed by filtration prior to step b). The alkyl ester layer separated in step b) is treated with an additional portion of alcoholic lithium base. In process, following the removal of alkyl ester and unreacted aliphatic alcohol, the base concentration of the lithium alkaline glycerin is determined and a stoichiometric portion of fatty alkyl compounds is added to the lithium alkaline glycerin mixture in step b). In step c) the lithium soaps are separated from the glycerin by filtration through a porous membrane. The filtered lithium soap is combined with lithium soap filtered after transesterification in step a) and washed with solvent for removing polar and non-polar contaminants. The glycerin is deionized and excess water is removed from it. The solvent is added to the lithium soap and glycerin mixture in step b) prior to filtration to enhance precipitation of the lithium soap. The fatty alkyl esters, lithium soaps and glycerin is isolated.Preferred Components: The monohydric aliphatic alcohol is a lower alcohol. The lower alcohol is selected from methanol, ethanol, propanol, iso-propanol, amyl alcohol, tert-butanol, and an isomeric branched chain alcohol (preferably methanol). The fatty alkyl compound is selected from at least one of lecithin, fatty acids, triglyceride, diglycerides, monoglyceride, fatty acid alkyl esters, fatty acid aryl ester and fatty anhydrides (preferably triglyceride). The lithium base is selected from LiOH.H2O, LiOMe, lithium metal, lithium hydride and lithium propylene glycol (LiPPG) (preferably monohydrated lithium hydroxide (LiOH H2O or lithium hydride). The catalyst is selected from dry LiH, Li, LiOMe and LiPPG. The fat, oil or grease is selected from at least one of canola oil, soybean oil, palm oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, flax oil, solin flax oil, mustard seed fixed oil, coriander seed fixed oil, castor oil, Chinese tallow tree oil, cocoa butter oil, coconut oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, crambe oil, evening primrose oil, peanut oil, hemp seed oil, olive oil, poppy seed oil, rapeseed oil, rice bran oil, sesame oil, tea seed oil, wheat germ oil, beef tallow, sheep tallow, pork fat, and chicken fat (preferably canola oil). EXAMPLE - To a flask was added monohydrated lithium hydroxide (0.4 g) and HPLC grade methanol solution (12 g) and the mixture was stirred at room temperature until all the solid dissolves. Mild heat was supplied during dissolution. Commercial canola oil (100 g) was added to the same flask. All the contents were well mixed and allowed to react for two hours under medium stirring. After 2 hours, agitation was stopped and a uniformly distributed thick precipitation of soap could be observed in the media. The solid soap was filtered under vacuum and the flask contents were transferred to a glass separatory funnel. After two hours of separation, two layers could be seen; the upper light and cloudy methyl ester layer and the lower dark and transparent glycerin layer. The lower layer was drained into a flask while leaving the upper layer in the funnel. To a flask were added monohydrated lithium hydroxide (0.3 g) and HPLC grade methanol solution (10 g) and the mixture was stirred at room temperature until all the solid dissolved. The methyl ester layer from first reaction was transferred into the same vessel and stirred for 2 hours then transferred to a glass separatory funnel and allowed to separate overnight. The following morning two layers were observed, an almost transparent yellow methyl ester layer on top and a darker transparent glycerin layer on the bottom. The glycerin layers obtained in two reactions were combined. A portion of the glycerin layer (0.015 ml) was transferred into a flask. This solution was diluted with water (10 ml). Phenolphthalein indicator (3-4 drops) was added until the solution turned pink. The sample was then titrated to a colorless end point with 0.001 M HCl solution. The glycerin portion containing residual catalyst and unreacted methanol was subjected to reduced pressure evaporation to remove the methanol solvent completely. A portion of ninety percent of the stoichiometric ratio of the triglyceride was taken for the saponification with the residual lithium hydroxide. One mole of lithium will react with triglyceride (0.33 moles). A weighed amount of oil was mixed with the glycerin layer already separated into the flask and stirred at 120degreesC for half hour. The flask contents were then cooled, first by running cold water, then submerged in an ice bath for 30 minutes. A well-formed white precipitate was observed. The solution was stirred with ice water in an ice bath to strip the soap from glycerin. The solution was filtered under vacuum to separate the solid soaps. The soap material was again stirred with cold hexane to remove any non-polar material and filtered again. An off white greasy material was recovered as the canola methyl ester product (yield 50-60%).