Cholesterol
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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.)
Risks
- ThermoFisher: SDS
Physical and Chemical 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 C |
| Density | 1.067 g/ml |
| Molecular Weight | mol. wt. = 386.66 |
| Boiling Point | 360 C (dec) |
Resources and Citations
- Wikipedia: 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