Question

Stearic acid and linoleic acid are both long chain carboxylic acids with 18 carbon atoms. However,...

Stearic acid and linoleic acid are both long chain carboxylic acids with 18 carbon atoms. However, there is a vast difference in the melting points of these fatty acids. Stearic acid (18:0) melts at 70°C and linoleic acid (18:2) melts at -5°C. Explain why there is such a large difference in the melting points of these fatty acids.

Homework Answers

Answer #1

The structure of Stearic acid

The structure of Linoleic acid

The strearic acid is a saturated fatty acid while Linoleic acid is an unsaturated fatty acid.

The saturated fatty acids have higher melting points than unsaturated fatty acids of the same length.

Hence, Stearic acid has higher melting point than Linoleic acid.

Note :-

The lower melting point of unsaturated fatty acid is due to its bend structure arises due to double bonds which decreases the van der Waal interaction between the molecule.

Saturated Fatty Acid :- The fatty acid containing only carbon-carbon single bond is called saturated fatty acid

Unsaturated Fatty Acid :- The fatty acid containing one or more carbon-carbon double or triple bond is called unsaturated fatty acid.

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