Octadecanolide

Octadecanolide is an organic compound with the chemical formula C₁₈H₃₄O₂. It is a cyclic ester or lactone, more specifically a macrolide.

Octadecanolide

Names
IUPAC name oxacyclononadecan-2-one
Other names 1-oxacyclononadecan-2-one 18-Octadecanolide
Identifiers
CAS Number	4444-85-3 N[EPA]
3D model (JSmol)	Interactive image
ChEBI	CHEBI:191925
ChemSpider	10633281
PubChem CID	12628864
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)	DTXSID00504917
InChI InChI=1S/C18H34O2/c19-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1-3-5-7-9-11-13-15-17-20-18/h1-17H2 Key: PGRBVLPTXLOMNB-UHFFFAOYSA-N
SMILES C1CCCCCCCCC(=O)OCCCCCCCC1
Properties
Chemical formula	C18H34O2
Molar mass	282.468 g·mol−1
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa). Infobox references

Occurrence

Several species of bees (such as some of genera Colletes, Halictus, Lasioglossum) and butterflies (such as some of genus Heliconius) use octadecanolide as a pheromone.^[1] The Dufour's gland of bees in the Halictinae subfamily, contains octadecanolide along with other macrocyclic lactones, which could be used for a range of different applications like nest building, larval food and chemical communication.^[2][3][4]