Stearyl alcohol

Japanese: ステアリルアルコール

Chemical formula: CH ₃ (CH ₂ ) ₁₇ OH. A higher aliphatic saturated monohydric alcohol that is a component of sperm whale oil. It is also found in duck uropygial glands, montan wax, and cotton wax. It is an odorless, white waxy solid, and pure form is thin platelet crystals. Its melting point is 58.0°C, boiling point is 345°C, specific gravity is 0.8392, and specific optical rotation n _D ²⁰ = 1.4529. It is easily soluble in water. It is mainly produced by hydrolysis of sperm whale oil and has been used as a raw material for synthetic detergents and polyvinyl chloride plasticizers, as well as in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, but due to the decline in whale resources, its usefulness as an industrial raw material has decreased, and it has been replaced by synthetic higher aliphatic alcohols, mainly produced using petrochemicals.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

化学式CH₃(CH₂)₁₇OH。マッコウ鯨油の成分である高級脂肪族飽和一価アルコール。ほかに，カモの尾腺，モンタン蠟，綿蠟中にも存在する。無臭，白色の蠟状固体で，純粋なものは薄い板状晶。融点58.0℃，沸点345℃，比重0.8392，比旋光度n_D²⁰＝1.4529。水に溶けやすい。おもにマッコウ鯨油の加水分解で製造され，合成洗剤，塩化ビニル可塑剤の原料，また化粧品，医薬品に供されていたが，クジラ資源の減少により工業用原料としての意味は少なくなり，石油化学を主とする合成高級脂肪族アルコールに代替されている。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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