Pentadecane

Pentadecane is a component of the larviposition pheromone of the tsetse fly, Glossina morsitans, and 1-pentadecene has been identified from Tribolium beetles. It is primarily used as a solvent in the chemical industry. In addition, it is one of several antifungal volatile compounds produced by the Pseudomonas fradiensis strain BWL1, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 8 g/L.

colourless liquid

Pentadecane is a linear alkane with high latent heat (~168 kJ/kg) and low melting point. These properties make it an ideal candidate as a phase change material (PCM) for cooling applications.

Pentadecane is produced by isolation of n-paraffins (C9–C17) from kerosene and gas oil fractions of crude oil by selective adsorption and fractional distillation. It is used in organic synthesis and as solvent.

n-Pentadecane is used in preparation method of Graphene/Alkane composite coating for Aluminum Alloy plate belt.

ChEBI: A straight-chain alkane with 15 carbon atoms. It is a component of volatile oils isolated from plants species like Scandix balansae.

Tetrahedron Letters, 28, p. 2507, 1987 DOI: 10.1016/S0040-4039(00)95453-4

Colorless liquid.

Insoluble in water.

Saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons, such as N-PENTADECANE, may be incompatible with strong oxidizing agents like nitric acid. Charring of the hydrocarbon may occur followed by ignition of unreacted hydrocarbon and other nearby combustibles. In other settings, aliphatic saturated hydrocarbons are mostly unreactive. They are not affected by aqueous solutions of acids, alkalis, most oxidizing agents, and most reducing agents. When heated sufficiently or when ignited in the presence of air, oxygen or strong oxidizing agents, they burn exothermically to produce carbon dioxide and water.

Pentadecane was synthesised using hexadecanoic acid as the starting material, under the catalysis of a Ni₄Fe₁ alloy, with dodecane as the solvent, at 220 °C and a hydrogen pressure of 2 MPa, over a reaction time of 4 hours. In this process, the hydrogenation of hexadecanoic acid first occurs to form the intermediate hexadecanol. Subsequently, this intermediate undergoes a decarboxylation reaction on the surface of the Ni₄Fe₁ catalyst, releasing one molecule of CO, thereby synthesising pentadecane with high selectivity. The yield is 98%^[1].

[1] Wang, L., Yang, Y., Song, S., Shi, Y., Da, W., Tian, Z., Deng, Y., Zhang, M., Zhang, X., Zheng, L., Tan, T., Wei, M. (2025). Switchable Product Selectivity in Biodiesel Synthesis. ACS Catalysis , 39 1. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.4c08096