Record Information
Version1.0
StatusDetected and Quantified
Creation Date2020-10-27 23:29:26 UTC
Update Date2024-09-28 00:18:57 UTC
Metabolite IDMMDBc0000074
Metabolite Identification
Common NamePalmitic acid
DescriptionPalmitic acid, or hexadecanoic acid, is one of the most common saturated fatty acids found in animals, plants, and microorganisms. As its name indicates, it is a major component of the oil from the fruit of oil palms (palm oil). Excess carbohydrates in the body are converted to palmitic acid. Palmitic acid is the first fatty acid produced during fatty acid synthesis and is the precursor to longer fatty acids. As a consequence, palmitic acid is a major body component of animals. In humans, one analysis found it to make up 21–30% (molar) of human depot fat (PMID: 13756126 ), and it is a major, but highly variable, lipid component of human breast milk (PMID: 352132 ). Palmitic acid is used to produce soaps, cosmetics, and industrial mould release agents. These applications use sodium palmitate, which is commonly obtained by saponification of palm oil. To this end, palm oil, rendered from palm tree (species Elaeis guineensis), is treated with sodium hydroxide (in the form of caustic soda or lye), which causes hydrolysis of the ester groups, yielding glycerol and sodium palmitate. Aluminium salts of palmitic acid and naphthenic acid were combined during World War II to produce napalm. The word "napalm" is derived from the words naphthenic acid and palmitic acid (Wikipedia ). Palmitic acid is also used in the determination of water hardness and is a surfactant of Levovist, an intravenous ultrasonic contrast agent.
Structure
Synonyms
ValueSource
1-Hexyldecanoic acidChEBI
1-Pentadecanecarboxylic acidChEBI
16:00ChEBI
C16ChEBI
C16 Fatty acidChEBI
C16:0ChEBI
Cetylic acidChEBI
CH3-[CH2]14-COOHChEBI
FA 16:0ChEBI
HexadecanoateChEBI
Hexadecoic acidChEBI
Hexadecylic acidChEBI
Hexaectylic acidChEBI
N-Hexadecanoic acidChEBI
N-Hexadecoic acidChEBI
PalmitateChEBI
Palmitinic acidChEBI
PalmitinsaeureChEBI
Pentadecanecarboxylic acidChEBI
1-HexyldecanoateGenerator
1-PentadecanecarboxylateGenerator
CetylateGenerator
Hexadecanoic acidGenerator
HexadecoateGenerator
HexadecylateGenerator
HexaectylateGenerator
N-HexadecanoateGenerator
N-HexadecoateGenerator
PalmitinateGenerator
PentadecanecarboxylateGenerator
Edenor C16HMDB
Emersol 140HMDB
Emersol 143HMDB
Glycon p-45HMDB
Hexadecanoate (N-C16:0)HMDB
Hexadecanoic acid palmitic acidHMDB
HydrofolHMDB
Hydrofol acid 1690HMDB
Hystrene 8016HMDB
Hystrene 9016HMDB
Industrene 4516HMDB
Kortacid 1698HMDB
Loxiol ep 278HMDB
Lunac p 95HMDB
Lunac p 95KCHMDB
Lunac p 98HMDB
PalmitoateHMDB
Palmitoic acidHMDB
PAMHMDB
PLMHMDB
Prifac 2960HMDB
Prifrac 2960HMDB
Pristerene 4934HMDB
Univol u332HMDB
Acid, hexadecanoicHMDB
Acid, palmiticHMDB
FA(16:0)HMDB
Molecular FormulaC16H32O2
Average Mass256.4241
Monoisotopic Mass256.240230268
IUPAC Namehexadecanoic acid
Traditional Namepalmitic acid
CAS Registry Number57-10-3
SMILES
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC(O)=O
InChI Identifier
InChI=1S/C16H32O2/c1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16(17)18/h2-15H2,1H3,(H,17,18)
InChI KeyIPCSVZSSVZVIGE-UHFFFAOYSA-N