Lipid Structures

Which of the following populations of fatty acids would most likely be a solid at room temperature?

A saturated fatty acid with 20 carbons

• The saturated fatty acid population with 20 carbons will have the most intermolecular interactions occurring between acyl tails of fatty acids, causing them to be more stable and therefore more likely solid at room temperature.
• Saturated fatty acids have more interactions possible than unsaturated fatty acids with the same number of carbons.
• Trans fatty acids are unsaturated and have more possible interactions than cis fatty acids, assuming the number of carbons is the same.
• The omega fatty acids have a cis bond that causes “kinks” in the acyl tail and thus impedes acyl tail interactions.
• Also, longer-chain acyl tails have more interactions than shorter acyl tails.