Palmitic acid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Palmitic acid | |
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| Chemical name | Hexadecanoic acid |
| Other names | Palmitic acid hexadecylic acid cetylic acid |
| Chemical formula | C16H32O2 |
| Molecular mass | 256.42 g/mol |
| CAS number | [57-10-3] |
| Density | 0.853 g/cm3 at 62 °C |
| Melting point | 63-64 °C |
| Boiling point | 215 °C at 15 mmHg |
| SMILES | CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC(=O)O |
| Disclaimer and references | |
Palmitic acid, or hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature, is one of the most common saturated fatty acids found in animals and plants. As its name indicates, it is a major component of the oil from palm trees (palm oil and palm kernel oil). The word palmitic is from the French "palmitique", the pith of the palm tree. Butter, cheese, milk and meat also contain this fatty acid.
Palmitate is a term for the salts or esters of palmitic acid. The palmitate anion is the observed form of palmitic acid at physiological pH.
Palmitic acid is the first fatty acid produced during lipogenesis (fatty acid synthesis) and from which longer fatty acids can be produced. Palmitate negatively feeds back on acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) which is responsible for converting acetyl-ACP to malonyl-ACP on the growing acyl chain, thus preventing further palmitate generation.
Palmitate is an antioxidant and a vitamin A compound added to low fat milk to replace the vitamin content lost through the removal of milk fat. Palmitate is attached to the alcohol form of vitamin A, retinol, in order to make vitamin A stable in milk.
Derivatives of palmitic acid were used in combination with naphtha during World War II to produce napalm (naphthenic and palmitic acids).
Reduction of palmitic acid yields cetyl alcohol.
