ANOMALOUS HIGH IODINE VALUE OF SQUALENE AND THE IMPACT ON IODINE VALUES OF SHARK LIVER OILS

Squalene has six ethylenic bonds, but the experimental iodine values i n two different solvent systems - chloroform and cyclohexane/acetic ac id - were 25% higher than the theoretical values. We propose that this results from an additional halogen adding at each of the two terminal ethylenic bonds carrying two methyl groups. In the solvent system of cyclohexane alone, the excess is only 3-4% greater than the theoretica l. Mixtures of squalene in seal oil confirmed the additivity of the ex perimental squalene high iodine value and the seal oil fatty acid iodi ne value with reasonable accuracy but depended on the skill of the ope rator in obtaining the titration end point for cyclohexane/acetic acid . This observation has particular relevance for shark liver oils and o live oils.