Sodium Palmitate

<p >Palmitic acid is mainly used to produce soaps, cosmetics, and&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Release_agent" title="Release agent" >release agents</a>. These applications utilize&nbsp;<b>sodium palmitate</b>, which is commonly obtained by&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saponification" title="Saponification" >saponification</a>&nbsp;of palm oil.&nbsp;</p>

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To this end, palm oil, rendered from the coconut palm nut, is treated with&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_hydroxide" title="Sodium hydroxide" >sodium hydroxide</a>&nbsp;

(in the form of caustic soda or lye), which causes&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolysis" title="Hydrolysis" >hydrolysis</a>&nbsp;of the&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ester" title="Ester" >ester</a>groups. This procedure affords&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycerol" title="Glycerol" >glycerol</a>&nbsp;and sodium palmitate.</p>

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Because it is inexpensive and adds texture to processed foods (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convenience_food" title="Convenience food" >convenience food</a>), palmitic acid and its sodium salt find wide use including foodstuffs. Sodium palmitate is permitted as a natural additive in&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_certification" title="Organic certification" >organic</a>&nbsp;products.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_palmitate#cite_note-8" >[9]</a></sup></p>

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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogenation" title="Hydrogenation" >Hydrogenation</a>&nbsp;of palmitic acid yields&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetyl_alcohol" title="Cetyl alcohol" >cetyl alcohol</a>, which is used to produce detergents and cosmetics.</p>

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Recently, a long-acting antipsychotic medication,&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paliperidone" title="Paliperidone" >paliperidone</a>&nbsp;palmitate (marketed as INVEGA Sustenna), used in the treatment of&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia" title="Schizophrenia" >schizophrenia</a>, has been synthesized using the&nbsp;

oily palmitate ester as a long-acting release carrier medium when injected intramuscularly. The underlying method of drug delivery is similar to that used with&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decanoic_acid" title="Decanoic acid" >decanoic acid</a>&nbsp;to deliver long-acting depot medication, in particular, neuroleptics such as&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haloperidol" title="Haloperidol" >haloperidol</a>&nbsp;decanoate.</p>