General Description
Colorless thick liquid (heated) with a faint alcohol odor. Solidifies and floats on water.
Reactivity Profile
TETRADECANOL(112-72-1) is an alcohol. Flammable and/or toxic gases are generated by the combination of alcohols with alkali metals, nitrides, and strong reducing agents. They react with oxoacids and carboxylic acids to form esters plus water. Oxidizing agents convert them to aldehydes or ketones. Alcohols exhibit both weak acid and weak base behavior. They may initiate the polymerization of isocyanates and epoxides.
Air & Water Reactions
Insoluble in water.
Health Hazard
Low toxicity. Overexposure causes some central nervous system depression. Prolonged skin contact causes skin irritation.
Chemical Properties
Myristyl alcohol occurs as a white crystalline solid with a waxy
odor. Also reported as opaque leaflets or crystals from ethanol.
Chemical Properties
white low melting solid or flakes
Definition
ChEBI: A long-chain fatty alcohol that is tetradecane in which one of the terminal methyl hydrogens is replaced by a hydroxy group
Production Methods
Myristyl alcohol is found in spermaceti wax and sperm oil, and may
be synthesized by sodium reduction of fatty acid esters or the
reduction of fatty acids by lithium aluminum hydride. It can also be
formed from acetaldehyde and dimethylamine.
Flammability and Explosibility
Notclassified(100%)
Pharmaceutical Applications
Myristyl alcohol is used in oral, parenteral, and topical pharmaceutical
formulations. It has been evaluated as a penetration
enhancer in melatonin transdermal patches in rats.
Myristyl alcohol has also been tested as a bilayer stabilizer in
niosome formulations containing ketorolac tromethamine,and
zidovudine.Niosomes containing myristyl alcohol showed a considerably slower release rate of ketorolac tromethamine than
those containing cholesterol.This was also observed with the
zidovudine formulation.
Safety
Myristyl alcohol is used in oral parenteral, and topical pharmaceutical
formulations. The pure form of myristyl alcohol is mildly toxic
by ingestion and may be carcinogenic; experimental tumorigenic
data are available.It is also a human skin irritant. In animal
studies of the skin permeation enhancement effect of saturated fatty
alcohols, myristyl alcohol exhibited a lower effect when compared
with decanol, undecanol, or lauryl alcohol but caused greater skin
irritation.A study investigating contact sensitization to myristyl
alcohol revealed that patch testing of myristyl alcohol 10%
petrolatum should not be carried out owing to observed irritant
effects; thus the use of a lower concentration of myristyl alcohol for
such tests (5% petrolatum) was recommended.Myristyl alcohol
has been associated with some reports of contact allergy.(8,9)A moderate-to-severe erythema and moderate edema are seen when
75 mg is applied to human skin intermittently in three doses over 72
hours.
LD50(rabbit, skin): 7.1 g/kg
LD50(rat, oral): 33.0 g/kg
storage
The bulk material should be stored in a well-closed container in a
cool, dry place.
Purification Methods
Crystallise the alcohol from aqueous EtOH. It has also been purified by zone melting. [Beilstein 1 IV 1864.]
Incompatibilities
Myristyl alcohol is combustible when exposed to heat or flame. It
can react with oxidizing materials. When heated to decomposition,
it emits acrid smoke and irritating fumes.
Regulatory Status
Included in the FDA Inactive Ingredients Database (oral tablet:
sustained-release; and topical formulations: cream, lotion, suspension).
Included in nonparenteral (topical cream) formulations
licensed in the UK.
