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Oleic acid

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Oleic acid

Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish due to the presence of impurities. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid, abbreviated with a lipid number of 18:1 cis-9, and a main product of Δ9-desaturase. It has the formula CH3−(CH2)7−CH=CH−(CH2)7−COOH. The name derives from the Latin word oleum, which means oil. It is the most common fatty acid in nature. The salts and esters of oleic acid are called oleates. It is a common component of oils, and thus occurs in many types of food, as well as in soap.

Fatty acids (or their salts) often do not occur as such in biological systems. Instead fatty acids such as oleic acid occur as their esters, commonly triglycerides, which are the greasy materials in many natural oils. Oleic acid is the most common monounsaturated fatty acid in nature. It is found in fats (triglycerides), the phospholipids that make membranes, cholesteryl esters, and wax esters.

Triglycerides of oleic acid comprise the majority of olive oil (about 70%). It also makes up 59–75% of pecan oil, 61% of canola oil, 36–67% of peanut oil, 60% of macadamia oil, 20–80% of sunflower oil, 15–20% of grape seed oil, sea buckthorn oil, 40% of sesame oil, and 14% of poppyseed oil. High oleic variants of plant sources such as sunflower (~80%) and canola oil (70%) also have been developed. Karuka contains 52.39% oleic acid. It is abundantly present in many animal fats, constituting 37 to 56% of chicken and turkey fat, and 44 to 47% of lard.

Free oleic acid occurs in oils and fats as a product of the breakdown of triglycerides. Olive oil exceeding 2% free oleic acid is graded unfit for human consumption. See Fatty acid § Free fatty acids. It is a chemical signal use by some ants.

Oleic acid is the most abundant fatty acid in human adipose tissue, and second in abundance in human tissues overall, following palmitic acid.

The biosynthesis of oleic acid involves the action of the enzyme stearoyl-CoA 9-desaturase acting on stearoyl-CoA. In effect, stearic acid is dehydrogenated to give the monounsaturated derivative, oleic acid.

Oleic acid undergoes the typical reactions of carboxylic acids and alkenes. It is soluble in aqueous base to give soaps called oleates. Iodine adds across the double bond. Hydrogenation of the double bond yields the saturated derivative stearic acid. Oxidation at the double bond occurs slowly in air, and is known as rancidification in foodstuffs and as drying in coatings.

Reduction of the carboxylic acid group yields oleyl alcohol. Ozonolysis of oleic acid is an important route to azelaic acid. The coproduct is nonanoic acid:

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monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid, abbreviated with a lipid number of 18:1 cis-9
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