Sciencemadness Discussion Board

lanosterol boiling point

soma - 1-7-2018 at 02:20

Is there a way to predict the boiling point of a substance? I'm wondering about lanosterol.

It has a melting point of 138-140C but no one lists a boiling point.

There is a paper that talks about concentrating lanosterol from lanolin using molecular distillation. They had temps around 183C with .1Pa

unionised - 1-7-2018 at 02:39

You have an indication of the boiling point.
183C at 0.1 Pa

At higher pressures the boiling point will be huger and at normal atmospheric pressure it may well decompose before it boils.
Cholesterol, a similar molecule, is said to boil- with decomposition- at 360C

SWIM - 1-7-2018 at 08:31

They have these things called nomographs, I think, which are for extrapolating boiling points at various pressures from one known boiling point.

They aren't tremendously accurate, but people use them when nothing better is available.

UC235 - 1-7-2018 at 09:44

Quote: Originally posted by SWIM  
They have these things called nomographs, I think, which are for extrapolating boiling points at various pressures from one known boiling point.

They aren't tremendously accurate, but people use them when nothing better is available.


They are more accurate for nonpolar materials. They don't work as well for polar stuff, but at least can give you an idea where the boiling point might be.