| Stearic acid | Oleic acid | |
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Fatty acids are carboxylic acids with a -COOH group and quite a long hydrocarbon chain attached.
Stearic acid - C17H35COOH - is an example of a saturated fatty acid - all carbon atoms in the main chain being linked by single carbon-carbon bonds. Oleic acid - C17H33COOH - has the same number of carbon atoms, but one double bond halfway along the main chain, which makes it unsaturated. This double carbon-carbon bond means oleic acid has 2 less hydrogen atoms than stearic acid, and this gives it a noticeable kink. Polyunsaturated fatty acids have more than one double bond. Examples on this site : a-linolenic acid, ?-linolenic acid. |
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Sub-contents - more Jmol files Contents page Front (index) page
Sub-contents - more Jmol files Contents page Front (index) page