Sterols

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Solid alcohols from animals or plants. They are usually not toxic.

Sterols (Wikipedia)

Sterol is an organic compound with formula C
17
H
28
O
, whose molecule is derived from that of gonane by replacement of a hydrogen atom in position 3 by a hydroxyl group. It is therefore an alcohol of gonane. More generally, any compounds that contain the gonane structure, additional functional groups, and/or modified ring systems derived from gonane are called steroids. Therefore, sterols are a subgroup of the steroids. They occur naturally in most eukaryotes, including plants, animals, and fungi, and can also be produced by some bacteria (however likely with different functions). The most familiar type of animal sterol is cholesterol, which is vital to cell membrane structure, and functions as a precursor to fat-soluble vitamins and steroid hormones.

Sterol
Sterol
Names
IUPAC name
2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17-hexadecahydro-1H-cyclopenta[a]phenanthren-3-ol
Other names
Hexadecahydro-3H-cyclopenta[a]phenanthrene-3-ol
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChemSpider
KEGG
  • InChI=1S/C17H28O/c18-13-6-9-15-12(10-13)5-8-16-14-3-1-2-11(14)4-7-17(15)16/h11-18H,1-10H2
    Key: FPXSXMFOYWRHDX-UHFFFAOYSA-N
  • C1CC2CCC3C4CCC(CC4CCC3C2C1)O
Properties
C17H28O
Molar mass 248.410 g·mol−1
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).

While technically alcohols, sterols are classified by biochemists as lipids (fats in the broader sense of the term).

The gonane skeleton, with the IUPAC recommended numbering of the carbon atoms
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