NEWER CONCEPTS OF LANOLIN COMPOSITION 11 Chemists frequently need more courage, more self-confidence, and the recognition that their services are contributing to the good of the commu- nity and society to inspire them to greater accomplishment. These things they can acquire through more discussions on problems concerning their profession in their societies, followed by constructive action. This will benefit not only chemists but it will have a profound, beneficial effect on the industrial development of the nation as well. NEWER CONCEPTS OF LANOLIN COMPOSITION* By LESTER I. CONRAD American Cholesterol Products, Inc., Milltown, N.y. THE UNITED STATES Pharmacopoeia describes lanolin, or wool fat, as the purified, fat-like substance from the wool of sheep. This brief descrip- tion does not reveal the complexity of lanolin which is really a wax rather than a fat. Natural waxes consist mainly of esters formed, in nature by the union of higher alcohols and higher fatty acids. They are characterized by a relatively low saponification number, a high percentage of unsaponi- fiable matter, and the complete absence of glycerin. In Figure 1, we have a graphic portrayal of the composition * Presented at the December 10, 1953, Meeting, New York City. Figure 1 COMPOSITION OF PURIFIED LANOLIN HYDROCARBONS FREE FATTY ACIDS I:REE ALCOHOLS o io 3o 40 60 7o 80 90 Ioo PERCENT PRESENT IN LANOLIN (•APPROX)

12 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS of purified lanolin. The esters which constitute the bulk of lanolin are composed of sterols, triterpenes, and aliphatic alcohols combined with acids whose variety and complexity have created baffling problems of identifica- tion. Lanolin also contains small amounts of hydrocarbons, free fatty acids, and free alcohols. It is generally accepted that the free alcohols have the same relative composition as the bound alcohols present in the esters. Table 1 lists analytical data by various investigators for different types of wool fat. It should be noted here that Bertram (1) analyzed two crude wool fat samples of the type commonly used for the manufacture of U.S.P. TABLE I--ANALYTICAL DATA lVOl• VARIOUS TYPES Or WOOL FAT C•ANUS) 50UI•CE OF DATA TYPE WOOL FAT ACID NO. SAP. NO. IODINE NO. HYI)ROOLYL NO. BERTRAM CRUDE (A.E,•,C.) 11.9 IIq'.6 5q'.'/ 52.5 BEIZT•AM CRUDE •A•TgALIAN) ,• .•lj J02.• •.3 •.0 •'• NElL (•ITISH) I.O 94.6 31.9 -- LOWER LANOLIN 8.R 0.4 - 22 - HEH• LANVIN 8.R I.O•x •'• 18•o•2 - ("NEUlIAL AMERICAN •NEUTRkLCA•,•R•.•)8 C140LES'rEROL 1LANOLI# US.R-AI PRODUCTS,,•LANOLIN U.S.P.- A2 INC. • kkNOLIN U.S,P.-A$ • LANOLIH U.S.P.-8• I LANOLIN U.S.P.-B 2 k,LAHOLIH U.S.P.-B 3 1.0 CAHe•a,q•A 97.5 29.8 27.7 0.9s 88.7 21.4 27.6 I 89.9 g9. 8 29.9 I 91.8 - 39,8 I 89.1 - 36.3 ß I 97.5 28.1 31.9 I 953 27.4 I 99.0 26.0 33.8 lanolin, one of these was an American crude, the other an Australian crude. The American crude has unusually high values for iodine number and hydroxyl number. Arlington Mills crude is a solvent extracted type which, because of color and odor, is not suitable for lanolin production, but was used by Weitkamp (2) in his work which will be detailed later. Neutral wool fat, as analyzed by Drummond and Baker (3) and our laboratory, is the most desirable for lanolin production since very little treatment is needed outside of improving color and odor. Data for British refined lan- olin as published by Lower (4) and by Hembrough (5) is listed along with that for six American lanolins, three from each of two producers which were analyzed in our laboratories. Large variations are to be expected from different lanolins which have their origins in widely scattered areas of the earth on many breeds of sheep. These variations may be further developed by methods of wool scouring and processing. The analysis of lanolin usually consists of chemical determinations of acid number, saponification number, and iodine number in addition to the physical measurements required. The hydroxyl number which is a measure