The Crystal Structure of the B-form of Stearic Acid

Abstract

The crystal structure of the B-form of stearic acid has been studied by X-ray diffraction. The structural parameters were refined by the block-diagonal least-squares method, and the final R value was 0.084. In this structure, the bond between the second and third carbon atoms was found to be the gauche conformation, although the other bonds were in the trans conformation usually seen in normal fatty acids.