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Stearic Acid

C18H36O2, 284.484 g/mol. Its structure, the values that were measured, the values that were calculated, and where each one came from.

verified recordOrganic — carboxylic acid9 measured properties

Drawn from the SMILES. It shows how the atoms are connected — not a photograph of a molecule, and not its shape in space.

Identifiers

Molecular formula
C₁₈H₃₆O₂
Molecular weight
284.484 g/mol
Exact mass
284.27153 g/mol
IUPAC name
octadecanoic acid
SMILES
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC(=O)O
InChI
InChI=1S/C18H36O2/c1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18(19)20/h2-17H2,1H3,(H,19,20)
InChIKey
QIQXTHQIDYTFRH-UHFFFAOYSA-N

Both are open without an account.

Measured properties

Values somebody obtained from a sample and published. Where two sources report the same property they are both shown, in the units each used — a disagreement between them is information, and averaging it away would be inventing a number neither one gave.

Boiling Point
721 °F at 760 mmHg (NTP, 1992)measured · CAMEO Chemicals
383 °Cmeasured · DrugBank
Melting Point
156.7 °F (NTP, 1992)measured · CAMEO Chemicals
68.8 °Cmeasured · DrugBank
Density
0.86 at 68 °F (USCG, 1999) - Less dense than water; will floatmeasured · CAMEO Chemicals
0.9408 g/cu cm at 20 °Cmeasured · Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)
Solubility
1 to 10 mg/mL at 73 °F (NTP, 1992)measured · CAMEO Chemicals
0.597 mg/L (at 25 °C)measured · DrugBank
Vapor Pressure
1 mmHg at 344.7 °F ; 5 mmHg at 408.2 °F (NTP, 1992)measured · CAMEO Chemicals
0.00000004 [mmHg]measured · Haz-Map, Information on Hazardous Chemicals and Occupational Diseases
LogP
8.23measured · DrugBank
log Kow = 8.23measured · Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)
Flash Point
385 °F (NTP, 1992)measured · CAMEO Chemicals
113 °C (235 °F) - closed cupmeasured · Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)
Viscosity
9.87 mPa.sec (cP) at 70 °Cmeasured · Bagby MO et al; Carboxylic acids. Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. (1999-2017). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Online Posting Date: 17 Oct 2003.
Refractive Index
Index of refraction: 1.4299 at 80 °Cmeasured · Lide, D.R., G.W.A. Milne (eds.). Handbook of Data on Organic Compounds. Volume I. 3rd ed. CRC Press, Inc. Boca Raton ,FL. 1994., p. V4: 3676
Index of refraction: 1.6130 at 20 °Cmeasured · Haynes, W.M. (ed.). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. 95th Edition. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton: FL 2014-2015, p. 3-488

Calculated properties

Derived from the structure rather than from a sample. These are reproducible and they are not measurements: a calculated partition coefficient and a measured one can differ by a long way, and where both exist they are listed apart on purpose.

Molecular weight
284.5 g/molcalculated · reference compound database
Average mass of one molecule, from reference compound database.
Exact mass
284.271530387 Dacalculated · reference compound database
Mass of the most common isotopic form.
XLogP3
7.4calculated · reference compound database
Estimated oil/water partition, computed by reference compound database.
Polar surface area
37.3 Ųcalculated · reference compound database
Polar surface area as computed by reference compound database.
Complexity
202calculated · reference compound database
A rough measure of how intricate the structure is.
H-bond donors
1calculated · reference compound database
H-bond acceptors
2calculated · reference compound database
logP
6.3325calculated · chemistry engine
Estimated preference for oil over water. Higher means more oil-like.
Topological polar surface area
37.3 Ųcalculated · chemistry engine
Surface area from polar atoms; relates to how easily a molecule crosses membranes.
H-bond donors
1calculated · chemistry engine
Atoms that can donate a hydrogen bond.
H-bond acceptors
1calculated · chemistry engine
Atoms that can accept a hydrogen bond.
Rotatable bonds
16calculated · chemistry engine
Single bonds the molecule can freely twist around.
Molar refractivity
87.1818 cm³/molcalculated · chemistry engine
Relates to the molecule's polarisability.
Fraction sp³ carbons
0.9444calculated · chemistry engine
Share of carbon atoms with tetrahedral bonding.
QED drug-likeness
0.336calculated · chemistry engine
Quantitative estimate of drug-likeness (0–1).

What it is made of

Elements

Percentages are of the molecular weight above, worked out the same way the molar mass calculator does it.

Structure

Heavy atoms, hydrogen excluded
20
Total atoms, hydrogen included
56
Rings
0
Aromatic rings
0
Stereocentres
0
Formal charge
0

Functional groups

  • Carboxylic acid

    A carbon double-bonded to oxygen and bonded to an –OH group; acidic.

Matched by structural pattern, not by a measurement.

The molecule in three dimensions

Rotate and inspect the atoms. Loaded only when you ask, so the page stays light.

The drawing above is a diagram of what is bonded to what. A molecule is not flat, and the model here is one low-energy shape generated from the connectivity — useful for seeing which groups can reach each other, and not a measured structure. A real sample is a population of conformations, interconverting.

Reactions it appears in

No documented reaction with a written procedure and a source involves Stearic Acid yet.

Other names for it

The systematic name on this record is octadecanoic acid.

The sources also call it Octadecanoic acid, n-Octadecanoic acid, Stearophanic acid, Stearex Beads, 1-Heptadecanecarboxylic acid, Pearl stearic, Cetylacetic acid, Industrene R, Octadecansaeure, Stearinsaeure, Vanicol.

Structurally related

Nothing structurally close to Stearic Acid has a page here yet.

Where these values came from

compound record.

What this page does not claim

The identifiers are what the source record holds, copied rather than recomputed. Measured values are reported as their source gave them, units and all; calculated values are marked as calculated and are not measurements. Where a field is absent the page says so, because a blank cell reads as a zero and a guessed value reads as a fact.

Nothing here is a hazard assessment, a purity statement or advice about handling a sample. A flash point quoted from a safety database is a number somebody published, not a judgement by us about whether this molecule is safe for what you intend.