Fatty acid: Quick Facts

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A composite diagram shows the structural formulas, space-filling models, and simplified depictions of lipid molecules including stearic acid and phosphatidylcholine, and how these assemble into a micelle and lipid bilayer, with labels identifying hydrophilic heads and hydrophobic tails.

Diagram showing a single fatty acid molecule with a pink hydrophilic head and blue hydrophobic tail, and a spherical micelle formed by many such molecules arranged with heads outward and tails inward.

Diagram showing how fatty acids are mobilized from adipose tissue, transported in the bloodstream, processed in the liver, and delivered as energy sources such as fatty acids, triglycerides, and ketones to the muscle, brain, and heart. Arrows illustrate the movement and conversion of lipids, glucose, glycerol, and ketones between adipocytes, liver, muscle, heart, and brain.

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Topics

Prostaglandin palmitic acid essential fatty acid Oleic acid unsaturated fat stearic acid monounsaturated fatty acid polyunsaturated fatty acid arachidonic acid linolenic acid Amino acid niacin abietic acid ibuprofen saturated fat

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Key People

Michel-Eugène Chevreul, c. 1860

Michel-Eugène Chevreul

French chemist

Ōmura Satoshi

Ōmura Satoshi

Japanese microbiologist

Konrad E. Bloch.

Konrad E. Bloch

American biochemist

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Feodor Lynen

German biochemist