1-Heptanol is an
alcohol
Alcohol may refer to:
Common uses
* Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds
* Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life
** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages
** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...
with a seven
carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
chain and the structural formula of CH
3(CH
2)
6OH.
It is a clear colorless liquid that is very slightly soluble in water, but miscible with
ether
In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group, a single oxygen atom bonded to two separate carbon atoms, each part of an organyl group (e.g., alkyl or aryl). They have the general formula , where R and R� ...
and
ethanol
Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...
.
Overview
There are three other isomers of heptanol that have a straight chain,
2-heptanol,
3-heptanol, and
4-heptanol, which differ by the location of the alcohol
functional group
In organic chemistry, a functional group is any substituent or moiety (chemistry), moiety in a molecule that causes the molecule's characteristic chemical reactions. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reactions r ...
.
Heptanol is commonly used in
cardiac electrophysiology
Cardiac electrophysiology is a branch of cardiology and Basic Science, basic science focusing on the electrical activities of the heart. The term is usually used in clinical context, to describe studies of such phenomena by invasive (intracardiac ...
experiments to block
gap junction
Gap junctions are membrane channels between adjacent cells that allow the direct exchange of cytoplasmic substances, such small molecules, substrates, and metabolites.
Gap junctions were first described as ''close appositions'' alongside tight ...
s and increase axial resistance between
myocyte
A muscle cell, also known as a myocyte, is a mature contractile Cell (biology), cell in the muscle of an animal. In humans and other vertebrates there are three types: skeletal muscle, skeletal, smooth muscle, smooth, and Cardiac muscle, cardiac ...
s. Increasing axial resistance will decrease conduction velocity and increase the heart's susceptibility to reentrant excitation and sustained arrhythmias.
1-Heptanol has a pleasant smell and is used in cosmetics for its fragrance.
See also
*
2-Heptanol
*
3-Heptanol
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heptanol, 1-
Primary alcohols
Alkanols