Abstract:

Several food emulsifiers serve as crystal structure modifiers for stearic acid [57-11-4] crystd. from various org. solvents. Stearic acid that usually ppts. under appropriate crystn. conditions as the B-form is converted into the C-form when 1-5% of sorbitan esters or ethoxylated sorbitan esters of fatty acids are present in the soln. Other emulsifiers such as polyglycerol esters, substituted monoglycerides and sucrose esters of fatty acids consisting of bulky hydrophilic groups, are also effective emulsifiers in preserving the C-form of the crystd. stearic acid. The active emulsifiers modify the external crystal habit of stearic acid. Mass spectrograph anal. indicates that sorbitan monostearate (Span 60) is pptd. with the stearic acid. [on SciFinder(R)]