This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Oleic acid is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
Oleic acid is a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid found in various animal and vegetable sources. It has the formula C18H34O2 (or CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7COOH).[1] The saturated form of this acid is stearic acid.
| Oleic acid | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| IUPAC name | (9Z)-octadec-9-enoic acid |
| Other names | (9Z)-Octadecenoic acid (Z)-Octadec-9-enoic acid cis-9-octadecenoic acid cis-Δ9-octadecenoic acid Oleic acid 18:1 cis-9 |
| Identifiers | |
| CAS number | [112-80-1] |
| SMILES |
|
| Properties | |
| Molecular formula | C18H34O2 |
| Molar mass | 282.4614 g/mol |
| Appearance | Pale yellow or brownish yellow oily liquid with lard-like odor |
| Density | 0.895 g/mL |
| Melting point |
13-14°C (286 K) |
| Boiling point |
360°C (633 K) (760mm Hg)[2] |
| Solubility in water | Insoluble in water; soluble in Methanol |
| Hazards | |
| MSDS | ScienceLab.com |
| Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa) Infobox disclaimer and references |
|
Contents |
Occurrence
Oleic acid makes up 55-80% of olive oil, though there may be only 0.5-2.5% or so as actual free acid, and 15-20% of grape seed oil and sea buckthorn oil.[3] The Brazilian palmberry, açaí, contains one of the highest contents known for oleic acid in the pulp of a fruit (56%)[4].
Oleic acid is emitted by the decaying corpses of a number of insects, including bees and Pogonomyrmex ants and triggers the instincts of living workers to remove the dead bodies from the hive. If a live bee[5] or ant[6] is daubed with oleic acid, it is dragged off as if it were dead.
It can also be noted that if dropped onto water, oleic acid spreads out into a very thin layer, only a molecule thick if allowed (This requires much dilution in most cases). This is often shown as a cool trick in high school science classes.
Chemistry
Reduction of oleic acid at the carboxyl end yields oleyl alcohol.
Salts of oleic acid are called oleates.
References
- ^ Bishop, Paul L. (2000). Pollution Prevention: Chapter 2 - Properties and Fates of Environmental Contaminants, instructional slides to accompany Pollution Prevention:Fundamentals and Practice, by Paul L. Bishop (ISBN 0-07-366147-3). Retrieved 2005-03-07.
- ^ Oleic acid, Chemical Laboratory Information Profile, American Chemical Society
- ^ Li, Thomas S. C. (1999). Sea buckthorn: New crop opportunity, from Perspectives on new crops and new uses by J. Janeck (ed.) Retrieved 2006-10-28.
- ^ Schauss AG, Wu X, Prior RL, Ou B, Patel D, Huang D, Kababick JP. Phytochemical and nutrient composition of the freeze-dried amazonian palm berry, Euterpe oleraceae Mart. (acai). J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Nov 1;54(22):8598-603. [1]
- ^ Anies Hannawati Purnamadjaja, R. Andrew Russell (2005). "Pheromone communication in a robot swarm: necrophoric bee behaviour and its replication". Robotica 23 (6): 731–742. doi:.
- ^ Ayasse, M, Paxton, R (2002) Brood protection in social insects. In: Hilker, M, Meiners, T (eds.). Chemoecology of Insect Eggs and Egg Deposition. Blackwell, Berlin, 117-148.
External links
|
||||||||||||||
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 25 June 2008, at 02:49.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Oleic acid".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.