Cholesterol

Cholesterol crystals

Description

A white, waxy sterol that occurs in all animal tissues. Cholesterol provides protection for the skin and nerve cells. It is obtained commercially from lanolin and is used as an emollient in cosmetics, hair conditioners, and pharmaceuticals.

Synonyms and Related Terms

cholest-5-en-3-ol; cholesterin; Cholesterin (Deut.); cholestérol (Fr.); colesterol (Esp., Port.); colesterolo (It.); cholesterol (Ned., Pol.); kolesterol (Sven.)

Chemical structure

Other Properties

Soluble in ether, chloroform, benzene, pyridine, oils and fats. Insoluble in water. Gives an intense red color with rosaniline in chloroform solution.

Composition	C27H45OH
CAS	57-88-5
Melting Point	148.5
Density	1.067
Molecular Weight	mol. wt. = 386.66
Boiling Point	360 (dec)

Hazards and Safety

Mallinckrodt Baker: MSDS

Authority

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholesterol (Accessed Oct. 18, 2005)

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: Entry # 2256

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 881