Palmitic acid World War II to produce napalm. The word "napalm" is derived from the words naphthenic acid and palmitic acid. Palmitic acid was discovered by Edmond Frémy in 1840, in saponified palm oil. This remains the primary industrial route for its production, with the triglycerides (fats) in palm oil being hydrolysed by high temperature water (above ), and the resulting mixture fractionally distilled to give the pure product. Palmitic acid is naturally produced by a wide range of other plants and organisms, typically at low levels. It is naturally present in butter, cheese, milk, and meat, as well as cocoa butter,
4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol carboxylic acids, which in the case of MCHM is 4-methylcyclohexanecarboxylic acid (CAS 13064-83-0), a naphthenic acid. The toxicity and environmental properties of these naphthenic acids have been well studied recently due to their occurrence as a major contaminant in water used for extraction of oil from tar sands. Naphthenic acids have both acute and chronic toxicity to fish and other organisms. The methyl ester of this acid is also listed as one of the major impurities in the "crude MCHM" as supplied by Eastman. The closely related compound cyclohexanedimethanol (CAS 105-08-8) exhibits low toxicity (3.5 g/kg) when fed orally to