What is an ester?

[S431M7]

What do u understood by an ester, folks, in a simple average man vocabulary? I have came across this term several times while doing some research that seem beyond my medical knowledge which by the way is not my area of expertise. However, since I'm interested to in bodybuilding and I need the suppplement of some roid, it is totally unwise to inject something into body that officially is been frowned upon. But any ways, I stumble into this word quite often, and I need to know it how bodybuilders would refine its meaning? In other words, what's their jargon for this scientific terminalogy?

From what I got so far, Dictionary.com defines an ester as:

An organic compound formed when an acid and an alcohol combine and release water. Esters formed from carboxylic acids are the most common, and have the general formula RCOOR', where R and R' are organic radicals. Esters formed from simple hydrocarbon groups are colorless, volatile liquids with pleasant aromas and create the fragrances and flavors of many flowers and fruits. They are also used as food flavorings. Larger esters, formed from long-chain carboxylic acids, commonly occur as animal and vegetable fats, oils, and waxes. Esters have a wide range of uses in industry.

Encyclopedia refines it this way:

An ester is named according to the two parts that make it up: the part from the alcohol and the part from the acid (in that order), for example ethyl sulfuric acid ester.
Since most esters are derived from carboxylic acids, a specific nomenclature is used for them. For esters derived from the simplest carboxylic acids, the traditional name for the acid constituent is generally retained, e.g. formate, acetate, propionate, butyrate. For esters from more complex carboxylic acids, the systematic name for the acid is used, followed by the suffix -oate. For example, methyl formate is the ester of methanol and methanoic acid (formic acid): the simplest ester. It could also be called methyl methanoate.

So what's an ester from AAS point of view?

[kfrost06]

It's attached to the active component, the steroid , to slow/stabilize absorption of the steroid. The body has to hydrolize the ester before it gets to the steroid therefore your body can not use all the steroid right away and you will get a longer half life, i.e. the steroid will be active longer but you will not get the huge surge in blood level from the gear.

[Amorphic]

kfrost06 hit the nail on the head. different esters are for different times of absorption. Acetate for example is very fast acting, where enanthate is slow release and takes several weeks to reach peak blood levels

[x_moe]

ester controls the duration of action of the compound

[ebjack]

follow up question about an ester....
when you shoot 250mg of test-e..are all 250mg avalable to the cells right then or only a trickle of test gets made avalable for use over two weeks as the ester gets broken down..

other words..is all the test active and slowly being broken down or is only a small part of the test being used as the ester is broken down.

[kfrost06]

follow up question about an ester....
when you shoot 250mg of test-e..are all 250mg avalable to the cells right then or only a trickle of test gets made avalable for use over two weeks as the ester gets broken down..

other words..is all the test active and slowly being broken down or is only a small part of the test being used as the ester is broken down.

the basic pharmacological mechanisms are complex and only partially understood. "The current understanding is that the rate-limiting mechanism governing the appearance of active steroid in the bloodstream is the retention of steroid esters from the oil vehicle ***ot due to oil/water partitioning, with gradual release into the extracellular fluid, where esters are rapidly hydrolyzed to liberate biologically active steroid."

In other words the ester attached keeps the compound in the oil instead of being circulated in the body. There's a saying in chemistry that "likes like likes" the ester are non-polar and so is the oil they are in. They are attracted to each other. Water is polar and does not like non-polars like oil. Mix oil and water together, what happens? They quickly seperate. Now when you inject oil in to your body it will do the same thing in your body, it will partition itself from the watery(polar) cellular fluids in your muscles(where it's injected) The fact there is an ester attached to the gear keeps the compound in the oil mixture however there will still be the parimeter of the oil vechicle "touching" the polar extracellular fluids. Again picture mixing oil and water, they seperate but they are touching. At the junction where they touch the steroid will be pulled out and the ester will very rapidly be hydrolized and then the steroid will then become active. The longer the ester the more non-polar it is and the more "repulsed" it will be by the water and the more attracted it will be to the oil hence the longer it will be partitioned from the extracellular fluids. Ever notice why all esters are in oil? This is why.

[kfrost06]

other words..is all the test active and slowly being broken down or is only a small part of the test being used as the ester is broken down.

The test is inactive until the ester is hydrolized, once the test+ester is "pulled" from the oil vechicle the ester is rapidly hydrolized and then the test is active.

[ebjack]

whoa!...OK..thanks for the very in de pth explanation
have a better understanding now

[S431M7]

It's attached to the active component, the steroid, to slow/stabilize absorption of the steroid. The body has to hydrolize the ester before it gets to the steroid therefore your body can not use all the steroid right away and you will get a longer half life, i.e. the steroid will be active longer but you will not get the huge surge in blood level from the gear.

"to slow/stabilize absorption of the steroid ."

So basically it acts like a resistor in a circuit board...or a valve in a motor engine once injected in the form of steroid in the human circulatory system....is that correct?

[kfrost06]

"to slow/stabilize absorption of the steroid ."

So basically it acts like a resistor in a circuit board...or a valve in a motor engine once injected in the form of steroid in the human circulatory system....is that correct?

I not that famaliar with the engine but it would be somewhat analogous to a resistor without the build up of heat .