Caprylic acid
chemical compound
Caprylic acid (from Latin capra 'goat'), also known under the systematic name octanoic acid or C8 acid, is a saturated fatty acid, medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA). It has the structural formula H3C−(CH2)6−COOH, and is a colorless oily liquid that is minimally soluble in water with a slightly unpleasant rancid-like smell and taste. Salts and esters of octanoic acid are known as octanoates or caprylates. The name of the related acyl group is octanoyl, capryloyl, or caprylyl. It is a common industrial chemical, which is produced by oxidation of the C8 aldehyde. Its compounds are found naturally in the milk of various mammals and as a minor constituent of coconut oil and palm kernel oil.
Two other acids are named after goats via the Latin word capra: caproic acid (C6) and capric acid (C10). Together, these three fatty acids comprise 15% of the fatty acids in goat milk fat.
Metabolism
Octanoyl-mtACP
One of the products of the mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis (mtFAS) pathway is octanoic acid bound to the mitochondrial acyl carrier protein (mtACP), also referred to as octanoyl-mtACP. In the absence of a mitochondrial acyl-mtACP thioesterase—none has been identified in any animal species—octanoic acid remains attached to mtACP rather than being released as a free fatty acid. Octanoyl-mtACP serves as the precursor for the biosynthesis of lipoic acid, a vital cofactor required by several key mitochondrial enzymes complexes, including the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC), the α‑ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (OGDC), the 2-oxoadipate dehydrogenase complex (OADHC), the branched‑chain α‑ketoacid dehydrogenase complex (BCKDC), and the glycine cleavage system (GCS).
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q409564. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Caprylic acid” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.