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Concept
Fatty acid
Summary
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, from 4 to 28. Fatty acids are a major component of the lipids (up to 70% by weight) in some species such as microalgae but in some other organisms are not found in their standalone form, but instead exist as three main classes of esters: triglycerides, phospholipids, and cholesteryl esters. In any of these forms, fatty acids are both important dietary sources of fuel for animals and important structural components for cells.
The concept of fatty acid (acide gras) was introduced in 1813 by Michel Eugène Chevreul, though he initially used some variant terms: graisse acide and acide huileux ("acid fat" and "oily acid").
Fatty acids are classified in many ways: by length, by saturation vs unsaturation, by even vs odd carbon content, and by linear vs branched.
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) are fatty acids with aliphatic tails of five or fewer carbons (e.g. butyric acid).
Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) are fatty acids with aliphatic tails of 6 to 12 carbons, which can form medium-chain triglycerides.
Long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) are fatty acids with aliphatic tails of 13 to 21 carbons.
Very long chain fatty acids (VLCFA) are fatty acids with aliphatic tails of 22 or more carbons.
Saturated fat
List of saturated fatty acids
Saturated fatty acids have no C=C double bonds. They have the formula CH_3(CH_2)_nCOOH, for different n. An important saturated fatty acid is stearic acid (n = 16), which when neutralized with sodium hydroxide is the most common form of soap.
Unsaturated fat
Unsaturated fatty acids have one or more C=C double bonds. The C=C double bonds can give either cis or trans isomers.
cis A cis configuration means that the two hydrogen atoms adjacent to the double bond stick out on the same side of the chain.
Official source
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