BIOL1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Vacuum Distillation, Paraffin Wax, Fatty Alcohol
Document Summary
Natural waxes are typically esters of fatty acids and long chain alcohols. Animal wax esters are typically derived from a variety of carboxylic acids and fatty alcohols. The composition of a wax depends not only on the species, but also on the geographic location of the organism. The best known animal wax is beeswax, but other insects secrete waxes as well. A major component of beeswax is the ester myricyl palmitate , which bees use for constructing honeycombs. Spermaceti is also a wax that occurs in large amounts in the oil of a sperm whale"s head. One of its main constituents is cetyl palmitate, an ester of a fatty acid and fatty alcohol. Plant waxes are derived from mixtures of long-chain hydrocarbons containing functional groups such as alkanes, fatty acids, alcohols, diols, ketones, and aldehydes. Plants also use waxes as a protective coating to control evaporation and hydration and to prevent them from drying out.
