Pristane

• 2,6,10,14 - tetramethyl-
• Norphytan

Colorless liquid

Liquid

0.78 g · ml -1

-100 ° C

296 ° C

Soluble in many organic solvents

1.4370 (20 ° C)

Attention

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Pristane ( systematic name: 2,6,10,14 - tetramethyl-pentadecane ) is a naturally occurring chemical compound, a colorless oil. It is a component of mineral oil, the one of the branched alkanes. The name comes from the Latin: pristis ( " sea monster "). Pristane is inert and is found in all living things.

Occurrence

Pristane was first discovered in the shark liver oil ( containing up to 14 %). It is produced by bacteria, algae, higher plants, but also found in different tissue types of the human and the cow, as well as in rat liver and wool wax. Marine reserves are in the zooplankton, lobsters, sharks, whales. Fossil oils and ancient sediments may contain pristane.

Stereoisomerism

Pristan has, due to the methyl groups on the carbon atoms 6 and 10, two asymmetrically substituted carbon atoms and therefore two stereocenters. In naturally occurring pristane shows one of these stereocenters (R ) configuration, and the other (S )-configuration. Natural pristane is a meso compound, it has a mirror plane through the carbon atom 8 and is not chiral, despite two stereocenters. Synthetic pristane contains three stereoisomers, including two enantiomers [( 6R, 10R) - pristane and (6S, 10S) - pristane ] and a meso compound ( meso- pristane ).

Use

Applies pristane in the industry as a lubricant, anti-corrosion or transformer oil. It can also be used in order to attract termites. Its presence in the oil assists in the determination of Ölverschmutzern because it - as well as other compounds ( so-called markers) - in a variety of oils in proportions characteristic is detectable.

In addition, pristane is used in the medical field, where mice to produce antibodies is injected into the peritoneum as an immunosuppressant. It produces similar a lupus erythematosus, which is useful for the study of autoimmune diseases in mice plasmacytomas. In addition, it produces in rat arthritis and thus helps in the study of this disease.