X-ray diffraction study of some normal alkyl esters of long-chain acids.

X-ray powder diffraction data are reported for 15 normal long-chain esters. The compounds represent all combinations of acid and alcohol where the acid portion is n-tetradecanoic, n-hexadecanoic, or n-octadecanoic acid, and the alcohol portion is n-tetradecanol, n-pentadecanol, n-hexadecanol, n-heptadecanol, or n-octadecanol. The individual compounds can be identified and distinguished by the diffraction data. Several of the esters have long spacings that are a linear function of the number of carbon atoms in the molecule and are consistent with a similar function for ethyl esters of long-chain acids. The remainder of the compounds crystallize in other polymorphic forms and therefore do not follow this function.