A cream-color powder formed as a metabolite from the oxidation of gallic acid. Ellagic acid occurs naturally in galls as well as leather that have been tanned with galls. It was isolated as a distinct compound by Chevreul in 1815. Ellagic acid is used as a tannin and as a pale-green to gray dye with iron mordants. It is being studied as a cancer preventing drug.
Synonyms and Related Terms
benzoaric acid; bezoardic acid; 4,4',5,5',6,6'-hexahydrodiphenic acid 2,6,2'6'-dilactone
Soluble in alkali and pyridine. Slightly soluble in water or ethanol. Insoluble in ether.
UV max 366, 255 nm
|Molecular Weight||mol. wt.=302.19|
Hazards and Safety
Fisher Scientific: MSDS
Sources Checked for Data in Record
- The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry
- Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982
- F. Crace-Calvert, Dyeing and Calico Printing, Palmer & Howe, London, 1876 Comment: p. 321