Lauroyl chloride

Lauroyl chloride is the organic compound with the formula CH3(CH2)10COCl. It is the acid chloride of lauric acid. Lauroyl chloride is a standard reagent for installing the lauroyl group. It is mainly produced as a precursor to dilauroyl peroxide, which is widely used in free-radical polymerizations.

Lauroyl chloride is a substrate for diverse reactions characteristic of acid chlorides. With base, it converts to laurone, a ketone with the formula [CH3(CH2)10]2CO. With sodium azide, it reacts to give undecyl isocyanate via a Curtius rearrangement of the acyl azide.