Hexadecanal is an organic compound with the chemical formula C16H32O.

Hexadecanal
Names
IUPAC name
hexadecanal
Other names
Hexadecanal; AI3-24252; EINECS 211-111-0; UNII-WQD27655QE
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
1772756
ChEBI
ChEMBL
ChemSpider
DrugBank
ECHA InfoCard 100.010.102 Edit this at Wikidata
EC Number
  • 211-111-0
722456
KEGG
UNII
  • InChI=1S/C16H32O/c1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17/h16H,2-15H2,1H3
    Key: NIOYUNMRJMEDGI-UHFFFAOYSA-N
  • CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC=O
Properties
C16H32O
Molar mass 240.428 g/mol
Hazards
GHS labelling:
GHS07: Exclamation mark
Warning
H315, H319, H335
P261, P264, P271, P280, P302+P352, P304+P340, P305+P351+P338, P312, P321, P332+P313, P337+P313, P362, P403+P233, P405, P501
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).

In biology

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Hexadecanal is found in human skin, saliva, and feces. It has a calming effect on mice.[1]

A 2017 study found that neurotypical men demonstrate an increase in electrodermal activity when exposed to subliminal levels of hexadecanal while men with autism spectrum disorder do not.[2][3]

In 2021, inhalation of hexadecanal was found to reduce aggression in men but to trigger aggression in women.[4] Hexadecanal is one of the most abundant substances emitted by human babies from their heads, which may be an evolutionary survival mechanism to induce mothers to defend the baby and fathers to not attack it. But it is not yet known whether the amount of hexadecanal emitted by humans is sufficient to affect other humans.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Klein, Bettina; Bautze, Verena; Maier, Anna-Maria; Deussing, Jan; Breer, Heinz; Strotmann, Jörg (2015). "Activation of the mouse odorant receptor 37 subsystem coincides with a reduction of novel environment-induced activity within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus". European Journal of Neuroscience. 41 (6): 793–801. doi:10.1111/ejn.12838. PMID 25619114. S2CID 39197364.
  2. ^ Endevelt-Shapira, Yaara; Perl, Ofer; Ravia, Aharon; Amir, Daniel; Eisen, Ami; Bezalel, Vered; Rozenkrantz, Liron; Mishor, Eva; Pinchover, Liron; Soroka, Timna; Honigstein, Danielle; Sobel, Noam (January 2018). "Altered responses to social chemosignals in autism spectrum disorder". Nature Neuroscience. 21 (1): 111–119. doi:10.1038/s41593-017-0024-x. ISSN 1546-1726. PMID 29180748. S2CID 3270677. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  3. ^ Whalley, Katherine (January 2018). "Misreading social smells". Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 19 (1): 3. doi:10.1038/nrn.2017.157. PMID 29213136. S2CID 600918.
  4. ^ Mishor, Eva; Amir, Daniel; Weiss, Tali; Honigstein, Danielle; Weissbrod, Aharon; Livne, Ethan; Gorodisky, Lior; Karagach, Shiri; Ravia, Aharon; Snitz, Kobi; Karawani, Diyala (2021-11-19). "Sniffing the human body volatile hexadecanal blocks aggression in men but triggers aggression in women". Science Advances. 7 (47): eabg1530. Bibcode:2021SciA....7.1530M. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abg1530. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 8604408. PMID 34797713. S2CID 244428241.
  5. ^ Underwood, Emily (2021-11-19). "Chemical emitted by babies could make men more docile, women more aggressive". Science. doi:10.1126/science.acx9685. S2CID 244449121.