Fatty acid amides (FAAs) are

amide In organic chemistry, an amide, also known as an organic amide or a carboxamide, is a compound with the general formula , where R, R', and R″ represent organic groups or hydrogen atoms. The amide group is called a peptide bond when it is ...

s formed from a

fatty acid In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, ...

and an

amine In chemistry, amines (, ) are compounds and functional groups that contain a basic nitrogen atom with a lone pair. Amines are formally derivatives of ammonia (), wherein one or more hydrogen atoms have been replaced by a substituent su ...

. In nature, many FAAs have ethanolamine as the amine component. Also known as ''N''-acylethanolamines, they contain the functionality RC(O)N(H)CH₂CH₂OH. A well known example is

anandamide Anandamide (ANA), also known as ''N''-arachidonoylethanolamine (AEA), is a fatty acid neurotransmitter. Anandamide was the first endocannabinoid to be discovered: it participates in the body's endocannabinoid system by binding to cannabinoid r ...

. Other fatty acid amides are fatty acid primary amides (FAPAs). They contain the functionality RC(O)NH₂). Oleamide is an example of this class of FAPAs.

Natural occurrences

FAAs play a role in intracellular signalling. The signalling is controlled in part by

fatty acid amide hydrolase Fatty acid amide hydrolase or FAAH (, oleamide hydrolase, anandamide amidohydrolase) is a member of the serine hydrolase family of enzymes. It was first shown to break down anandamide in 1993. In humans, it is encoded by the gene ''FAAH''.; Fu ...

s, which convert the amide to the parent fatty acid. One example of signaling is induced by the binding of anandamide to the

cannabinoid receptor Cannabinoid receptors, located throughout the body, are part of the endocannabinoid system a class of cell membrane receptors in the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily. As is typical of G protein-coupled receptors, the cannabinoid recep ...

s. Aliphatic amides can be found in '' Zanthoxylum'' species found in Nigeria.The Nigerian Zanthoxylum; Chemical and biological values. S. K. Adesina, Afr. J. Trad. CAM, 2005, volume 2, issue 3, pages 282-301
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Natural occurrences

See also

References

Further reading