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Fatty acids
- Naturalis Olea
- Mar 10
- 2 min read
Depending on the structure of the hydrocarbon chain, fatty acids are classified as saturated and unsaturated fatty acids.
SATURATED FATTY ACIDS:
Acetic Acid : CH3 COOH
Propionic Acid: CH3 CH2 COOH
Butyric Acid: CH3 (CH2)2 COOH
Caproic Acid: CH3 (CH2)4 COOH
Caprylic Acid: CH3 (CH2)6 COOH
Capric Acid: CH3 (CH2)8 COOH
Lauric Acid: CH3 (CH2)10 COOH
Myristic Acid: CH3 (CH2)12 COOH
Palmitic Acid: CH3 (CH2)14 COOH
Stearic Acid: CH3 (CH2)16 COOH
Arachidic Acid: CH3 (CH2)18 COOH
Behenic Acid: CH3 (CH2)20 COOH
Lignoceric Acid: CH3 (CH2)22 COOH
Cerotic Acid: CH3 (CH2)24 COOH
Montanic Acid: CH3 (CH2)26 COOH
To simplify, let's take stearic acid for example. Stearic Acid = CH3 (CH2)16 COOH In other words, it is a saturated fatty acid consisting of a total of 18 Carbon 36 Hydrogen 2 Oxygen components with the inclusion of the hydrocarbon tail consisting of 17 Carbon and 35 Hydrogen to the Carboxyl group, namely COOH, and it is understood that it is saturated with 36 hydrogen pairings to 18 carbons in the sequence. You can group saturated fatty acids as short, medium and long chain according to their carbon numbers. While Acetic Acid is a short-chain saturated fatty acid, you can say that Montanic acid is a long-chain saturated fatty acid.
UNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS:
Palmitoleic Acid: CH3(CH2)5 CH = CH(CH2)7 COOH
Oleic Acid: CH3(CH2)7 CH = CH(CH2)7 COOH
Linoleic Acid: CH3(CH2)4 CH = CHCH2CH = CH(CH2)7 COOH
Alpha Linolenic Acid: CH3CH2CH = CHCH2CH = CHCH2CH = CH(CH2)7 COOH
Arachidonic Acid: CH3(CH2)4CH=CHCH2CH=CHCH2CH=CHCH2CH=CH(CH2)3COOH
To put it more simply, for example, OLEIC ACID is formed by the addition of a 17 carbon 33 hydrogen tail to a carboxyl group. However, just as unsaturated fatty acids can form double bonds, there is at least 1 double bond in oleic acid. These double bonds are defined as cis. In this context, oleic acid contains 18 carbons 34 hydrogens and 2 oxygens. While having 34 hydrogens for 18 carbons indicates that it is an unsaturated fatty acid, unsaturated fats can be saturated with hydrogen supplementation. The saturated fatty acid stearic acid and the unsaturated fatty acids oleic and linoleic acid are illustrated below.
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