An X-ray Diffraction Study of Crystalline Cholesteryl Myristate and Cholesteryl Stearate

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Abstract
Powdered samples of the solid crystalline phase of cholesteryl myristate and stearate, crystallized at various temperatures from the melt and from solution, were studied by X-ray diffraction. The type and parameters of the unit cell were determined. The myristate and the stearate have monoclinic unit cells that are nearly identical except that the stearate has a larger c parameter. The structure has essentially no similarity to the corresponding structure in the mesophase. Temperature dependent measurements show that in a temperature range below the melting point imperfections are introduced. These imperfections are concentrated in directions perpendicular to the long axis of the molecules. This result is discussed in terms of the structure of the mesophase.