Crystallography of the Polymethylene Chain: An Inquiry into the Structure of Waxes

by Douglas L. Dorset

Overview

By considering the solid state packing of linear chain wax components, this book aims at understanding three things: firstly, which modifications of molecular components are allowed for maintaining stable solid solutions; secondly, what happens when stability conditions are traversed and fractionation begins and thirdly, the structure of fractionated arrays. The co-compatibility of molecular ingredients is considered in terms of their shapes and relative sizes, following an approach originally proposed by Kitaigorodskii. As demonstrated profusely by the crystal structures of pure component types (e. g. alkanes, fatty alcohols, fatty acids, long chain esters, cholesteryl esters) and insertion of functional groups (e. g. chain branches, unsaturation, heteroatoms), characteristic molecular packing arrays provide important geometric information for understanding the co-packing of different molecules in mixtures. Single crystal and spectroscopic data from polydisperse arrays can then be evaluated to arrive at plausible structures of solid solutions and fractionated systems. The resultant structures are not only relevant to the understanding of so-called waxes but also include certain classes of polymers. The ramifications of this work extend into any solid state array of polymethylene chains, including lipid foodstuffs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198529088
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/17/2005
Series:	International Union of Crystallography Monographs on Crystallography , #17
Pages:	246
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Douglas L. Dorset is Senior Research Associate at ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company in Annandale, New Jersey.

Table of Contents

1. Polydispersity of the paraffin chain—statement of the problem2. Layer packing of polymethylene chains3. Crystal structures and phase transitions of the paraffins4. Thermotropic disorder in n-paraffin crystals5. Binary and multicomponent solids of n-paraffins6. Some functional substitutions in n-paraffins7. Lipid alcohols8. The fatty acids9. Linear fatty acid esters10. The cholesteryl esters11. From waxes to polymers—the crystallography of polydisperse arrays