A Salty Solution An ester is a carbon and hydrogen chain (salt) chemically bound to a parent molecule to attenuate its water solubility. This chain is typically attached to the parent steroid hormone at the 17th carbon, although some compounds do carry esters at differing positions. Esterification of an inject able anabolic/androgenic steroid basically accomplishes one thing; it slows the release of the parent steroid from the depot location (injection site). Esterification notably lowers the water solubility of the steroid, and increases its fat solubility. This will cause the drug to form a deposit in the muscle tissue, from which it will slowly enter into circulation as it is picked up in small quantities by the blood. Generally, the longer the ester chain, the lower the water solubility of the compound, and the longer it will take to for the full dosage to reach general circulation. Slowing the release of the parent steroid is a great benefit in steroid medicine, as free testosterone (or other steroid hormones) previously would remain active in the body for a very short period of time (typically hours). This would necessitate a daily injection schedule if one wished to maintain a continuous elevation of hormone. Esterification temporarily deactivates the steroid molecule. With a chain blocking the 17th beta position, binding to the androgen receptor is not possible (it can exert no activity in the body). In order for the compound to become active the ester must therefore first be removed. This automatically occurs once the compound has filtered into blood circulation, where esterase enzymes quickly cleave off (hydrolyze) the ester chain. This will restore the necessary hydroxyl (OH) group at the 17th beta position, enabling the drug to attach to the appropriate receptor. Now and only now will the steroid be able to have an effect on skeletal muscle tissue. You can start to see why considering testosterone cypionate much more potent than enanthate makes little sense, as your muscles are seeing only free testosterone no matter what ester was used to deploy it. ACTIONS OF DIFFERENT ESTERS There are many different esters that are used with anabolic/androgenic steroids, but as stated above, they all do the same thing. Esters vary only in their ability to reduce a steroids water solubility. An ester like propionate for example will slow the release (from the depot location) of a steroid for a few days, while the release will be weeks with a larger ester. Esters have no effect on the parent compound. Any differences in results and or side effects that may be noted are just issues of release rate. Given an equal blood level of hormone, there would be no difference in the rate of aromatization or DHT conversion between different esters. There is simply no mechanism for this to be possible, Unbound Testosterone is Testosterone end of story. . ESTER PROFILES & CHEMISTRY Acetate: C2H4O2 Acetic Acid; Ethylic acid; Vinegar acid; vinegar; Methanecarboxylic acid. Acetate esters delay the release of a steroid for only a couple of days(2-3). This ester is used on oral primobolan tablets (metenolone acetate), Finaplix (trenbolone acetate) and occasionally testosterone. Propionate: C3H6O2 Carboxyethane; hydroacrylic acid; Methylacetic acid; Ethylformic acid; Ethanecarboxylic acid; metacetonic acid; pseudoacetic acid; Propionic Acid. Propionate esters will slow the release of a steroid for several days (3-5). Testosterone propionate and methandriol dipropionate (two separate propionate esters attached to the parent steroid methandriol) are popular items to make use of this ester. Phenylpropionate: C9H10O2 Propionic Acid Phenyl Ester. Phenylpropionate will extend the release of active steroid a day or possibly two longer than propionate (4-5). Durabolin™ is the drug most commonly seen with a phenylpropionate ester (nandrolone phenylpropionate), although it is occasionally also used with testosterone in Blended preparations. Isocarpoate: C6H12O2 Isocaproic Acid; isohexanoate; 4-methylvaleric acid. Isocaproate is the midline in terms of release duration, with a notable hormone level being sustained for approximately one week. This ester is often used with testosterone in the blended preparations. Caproate: C6H12O2 Hexanoic acid; hexanoate; n-Caproic Acid; n-Hexoic acid; butylacetic acid; pentiformic acid; pentylformic acid; n-hexylic acid; 1-pentanecarboxylic acid; hexoic acid; 1-hexanoic acid; Hexylic acid; Caproic acid. This ester is identical to isocarpoate in terms of atom count and weight, but is laid out slightly different arangment. Release duration would be very similar to isocaproate (5-7 days). Caproate is the slowest releasing ester used in the commercial testosterone preparation Omnadren™. Enanthate: C7H14O2 Heptanoic acid; enanthic acid; enanthylic acid; heptylic acid; heptoic acid; Oenanthylic acid; Oenanthic acid. Enanthate is one of the most prominent esters used in steroid manufacture. Enanthate will release a steady (yet fluctuating as all esters are) level of hormone for approximately 10-14 days. In clinical medicine enanthate compounds are most often injected on a bi-weekly or even monthly basis. Cypionate: C8H14O2 Cyclopentylpropionic acid, cyclopentylpropionate. Cypionate is a very popular ester in the U.S., although it is scarcely found outside this region. Its release duration is almost identical to enanthate (10-14 days) as it only differs in mass by one carbon atom. Decanoate: C10H20O2 Decanoic acid; capric acid; caprinic acid; decylic acid, Nonanecarboxylic acid. The Decanoate ester is most commonly used with the hormone nandrolone (as in Deca-Durabolin. Testosterone decanoate is also the longest acting constituent in many popular testosterone blend preparations, greatly extending its release duration. The release time with Decanoate compounds is listed to be as long as 21 days. Undecylenate: C11H20O2 Undecylenic acid; Hendecenoic acid; Undecenoic acid. This ester is very similar to decanoate, containing only one carbon atom more. Its release duration is likewise very similar (approximately 14-21 days), perhaps extending a day or so past that seen with decanoate. Undecylenate seems to be exclusive to the veterinary preparation Equipoise™ (boldenone undecylenate). Undecanoate: C11H22O2 Undecanoic Acid; 1-Decanecarboxylic acid; Hendecanoic acid; Undecylic acid. Undecanoate is not a commonly found ester, and only appears to be used in the nandrolone preparation Dynabolan, and oral testosterone undecanoate (Andriol). Since this ester is chemically very similar to undecylenate (see notation), it has a similar release duration (approximately 2-3 weeks). Laurate: C12H24O2 Dodecanoic acid, laurostearic acid. Laurate is the longest releasing ester used in commercial steroid production, although longer acting esters do exist. Its release duration would be closer to one month than the other esters listed above. Laurate is exclusively found in the veterinary nandrolone preparation Laurabolin. Ester Formula Half life (days) Acetate C2H4O2 2-3 Propionate C3H6O2 3-5 Phenylpropionate C9H10O2 4-5 Isocarpoate C6H12O2 5-7 Caproate C6H12O2 5-7 Enanthate C7H14O2 10-14 Cypionate C8H14O2 10-14 Decanoate C10H20O2 14-21 Undecylenate C11H20O2 14-21 Undecanoate C11H22O2 14-21 Laurate C12H24O2 21-30 The Technicality Technically there is one way the ester does affect potency of a given preparation; it is in the steroid weight. The heavier the ester chain, the greater is its percentage of the total weight it contributes to the preparation. In the case of testosterone enanthate, 250mg of esterified steroid (testosterone enanthate) is equal to only 180mg of free testosterone. 70mgs out of each 250mg injection is the weight of the ester (the enanthate). If we wanted to be really picky, we could consider enanthate slightly MORE potent than cypionate as its ester chain contains one less carbon atom (therefore taking up a slightly smaller percentage of total weight). Propionate would of course come out superior to the larger esters, releasing a measurable (but statistically insignificant) amount more testosterone per injection than the others. As for my penchant for whimsical titles and bad word play…….well I guess you’ll just have too swallow it! B.”EvilGenius”Chavez EvilGSP
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 03:50:28 +0000
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