Tristearin

Description

A colorless, odorless, white powder. Tritearin, or stearin, is found in most animal and vegetable fats especially hard ones like cocoa butter and tallow. It is the glyceride of stearic acid. Stearin is used in the manufacture of soaps, candles, adhesives, metal polishes, waterproofing paper, textile sizes, and leather stuffing.

Synonyms and Related Terms

octadecanoic acid 1,2,3-propanetriyl ester; triestearina (Esp.); stearina (It); stearin; glycerol tristearate; glyceryl tristearate

Chemical structure

Other Properties

Soluble in benzene, chloroform, carbon disulfide, hot ethanol. Insoluble in water.

Composition	C3H5(C18H35O2)3
CAS	555-43-1
Melting Point	71.6
Density	0.862
Molecular Weight	mol. wt. = 891.50
Refractive Index	1.4385

Hazards and Safety

Combustible. Contact may cause irritation.

Fisher Scientific: MSDS

Authority

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 771

• 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 9885

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