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Lauric acid

Lauric acid
Common name lauric acid
Systematic name dodecanoic acid
Chemical formula C12H24O2

Lauric acid, also known as n-dodecanoic acid and n-alkanoic acid is a fatty acidwith structural formula CH3(CH2)10COOH . It is the main acid in coconut oiland in palm kernel oil, and is believed to have antimicrobial properties. Lauric acid, although slightly irritating to mucous membranes, has a very low toxicity and so is used in many soaps and shampoos. Sodium lauryl sulfate is the most common lauric-acid derived compound used for this purpouse. Because lauric acid has a non-polar hydrocarbon tail and a polar carboxylic acid head, it can interact with polar solvents (the most important being water) as well as fats, allowing water to dissolve fats. This accounts for the abilities of shampoos to remove grease from hair.

Because lauric acid is inexpensive, has a long shelf-life, and is non-toxic and safe to handle, it is often used in laboratory investigations of melting-point depression. Lauric acid is a solid at room temperature but melts easily in boiling water, so liquid lauric acid can be treated with various solutes and used to determine their molecular masses.

Reduction of lauric acid yields 1-dodecanol.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

  • 1 Properties
    • 1.1 Physical data
    • 1.2 Stability
    • 1.3 Toxicology
    • 1.4 Transport information
  • 2 External links

Properties

Physical data

Appearance: white, powdery solid with a faint odor of bay oil
Melting point: 44-46 C
Boiling point: 225 C at 100 mm Hg
Vapour density:
Vapour pressure: 1 mm at 121 C
Density (g cm-3): 0.883
Flash point:
Explosion limits:
Autoignition temperature:

Stability

Stable. Combustible. Incompatible with bases, oxidizing agents, reducing agents. Although lauric acid will burn, it tends to melt and vaporize unless it is in contact with an oxidizing agent or has been heated extremely quickly.

Toxicology

Eye, skin and respiratory irritant.

Transport information

Non-hazardous for air, sea and road transport.

External links

  • Center for research on Lauric oils
  • Computational Chemistry Wiki
Image:Benzene balls.png This article about an organiccompoundis a stub. You can helpWikipedia by expanding it.
de:Laurinsäure

lauric acid is an essential material for tile cleanser

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/Lauric_acid"



This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauric+acid Wikipedia article Lauric acid.

 
  All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License