Hexadecyl hexadecanoate, also known as Cetyl palmitate, is the

ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides a ...

derived from

hexadecanoic acid Palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature) is a fatty acid with a 16-carbon chain. It is the most common saturated fatty acid found in animals, plants and microorganisms.Gunstone, F. D., John L. Harwood, and Albert J. Dijkstra. The L ...

and

hexadecanol Cetyl alcohol , also known as hexadecan-1-ol and palmityl alcohol, is a C-16 fatty alcohol with the formula CH3(CH2)15OH. At room temperature, cetyl alcohol takes the form of a waxy white solid or flakes. The name cetyl derives from the whale oi ...

. This white waxy solid is the primary constituent of spermaceti, the once highly prized wax found in the skull of sperm whales.Wilhelm Riemenschneider and Hermann M. Bolt "Esters, Organic" Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2005, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. Cetyl palmitate is a component of some

solid lipid nanoparticle lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), are nanoparticles composed of lipids. They are a novel pharmaceutical drug delivery system (and part of nanoparticle drug delivery), and a novel pharmaceutical formulation. LNPs as a drug delivery vehicle were fi ...

Stony coral Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mo ...

s, which build the

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

s, contain large amounts of cetyl palmitate wax in their tissues, which may function in part as an

antifeedant Antifeedants are organic compounds produced by plants to inhibit attack by insects and grazing animals. These chemical compounds are typically classified as secondary metabolites in that they are not essential for the metabolism of the plant, but i ...

.Dobretsov, S.; Al-Wahaibi, A. S. M.; Lai, D.; Al-Sabahi, J.; Claereboudt, M.; Proksch, P.; Soussi, B., "Inhibition of Bacterial Fouling by Soft Coral Natural Products", International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 2015, volume 98, 53-58.

References

Fatty acid esters Palmitate esters Waxes {{Ester-stub