Heneicosane is the

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. T ...

with the formula CH₃(CH₂)₁₉CH₃. It is the straight chain, saturated C21 hydrocarbon. It is a white wax.

Natural occurrence

Heneicosane is used as a

pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...

by the queen or king termites in the species ''

Reticulitermes flavipes ''Reticulitermes flavipes'', the eastern subterranean termite, is the most common termite found in North America. These termites are the most economically important wood destroying insects in the United States and are classified as pests. They fe ...

''. It also attracts mosquitoes in the genus ''

Aedes ''Aedes'' is a genus of mosquitoes originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents except perhaps Antarctica. Some species have been spread by human activity: '' Aedes albopictus'', a particularly invasive sp ...

'' and can be used in mosquito baits. This works in nature as the hydrocarbon is produced in the skin of the larva. A 1:100000 fraction in water is the most attractive, but if the concentration is 1:1000 then mosquitoes are repelled instead. Heneicosane is one of the major components of the safflower flower essential oil (''

Carthamus tinctorius Safflower (''Carthamus tinctorius'') is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant in the family Asteraceae. It is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds and was used by the early Spanish colonies alo ...

''). All parts of the plant '' Periploca laevigata'' contain heneicosane. ''

Rosa damascena Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: People *Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) *Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose) Places *223 Rosa, an asteroid *Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States *Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, Ge ...

'' flower essential oil contains 5% heneicosane. ''Sambucus nigra'' contains 2.3%.

References

Alkanes {{organic-compound-stub