Sodium stearyl fumarate is a chemical compound, sodium salt of the monooctadecyl ester of butyric acid.

It is commonly used as a lubricating agent in orally dissolving medicinal tablets. In the mold, the lubricant performs a protective action on tools acting with reduced frictional force. The lubricant acts on the kinetics of tablet disintegration, tablet friability, tablet strength, and tablet hardness. Other important functions of lubricants are:

• preventing tablets from sticking to the mold
• improving the speed of the tablet granules
• to facilitate the ejection of the tablet from the mold

It is included in a maximum percentage of 1%.

Sodium stearylfumarate also acts as an anionic surfactant (removes dirt particles).

Sodium stearyl fumarate studies

Sodium stearyl fumarate data sheet

Molecular Formula: C₂₂H₃₉NaO₄

Molecular Weight: 390.5 g/mol

CAS: 4070-80-8

UNII 7CV7WJK4UI

EC Number: 223-781-1

DSSTox Substance ID: 

MDL number  

PubChem Substance ID 

NACRES  NA.24

Synonyms: 

• Sodium octadecyl fumarate
• (E)-2-Butenedioic acid monooctadecyl ester sodium salt
•  Sodium monooctadecyl fumarate
• Sodium monooctadecyl 2-butenedioate, (E)-

Compendium of the most significant studies with reference to properties, intake, effects.

Shrestha M, Shi H, Strohmeier M, Medek A. Investigation of Solid Dosage Form Components Interaction Using Orthogonal Techniques- Discovery of New Forms of Sodium Stearyl Fumarate. J Pharm Sci. 2021 Apr;110(4):1592-1600. doi: 10.1016/j.xphs.2020.12.040.

Ludvigsson JW, Wikström H, Andersson T, Norrby PO. Degradation caused by incompatibility between sodium stearyl fumarate (PRUV) and AZD7986 in the drug product. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2018 Sep 5;158:82-87. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2018.05.036.

Démuth B, Farkas A, Balogh A, Bartosiewicz K, Kállai-Szabó B, Bertels J, Vigh T, Mensch J, Verreck G, Van Assche I, Marosi G, Nagy ZK. Lubricant-Induced Crystallization of Itraconazole From Tablets Made of Electrospun Amorphous Solid Dispersion. J Pharm Sci. 2016 Sep;105(9):2982-2988. doi: 10.1016/j.xphs.2016.04.032.

Gyllenhaal O. Packed column supercritical fluid chromatography of sodium stearyl fumarate aqueous suspension. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2006 Mar 3;40(4):971-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2005.07.049.

Kuno Y, Kojima M, Nakagami H, Yonemochi E, Terada K. Effect of the type of lubricant on the characteristics of orally disintegrating tablets manufactured using the phase transition of sugar alcohol. Eur J Pharm Biopharm. 2008 Aug;69(3):986-92. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2008.02.016.

Jadhav S, Kaur A, Bansal AK. Comparison of Downstream Processing of Nanocrystalline Solid Dispersion and Nanosuspension of Diclofenac Acid to Develop Solid Oral Dosage Form. Pharmaceutics. 2020 Oct 23;12(11):1015. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics12111015.

Speranza A, Corradini MG, Hartman TG, Ribnicky D, Oren A, Rogers MA. Influence of emulsifier structure on lipid bioaccessibility in oil-water nanoemulsions. J Agric Food Chem. 2013 Jul 3;61(26):6505-15. doi: 10.1021/jf401548r.

Patadia R, Vora C, Mittal K, Mashru R. Investigating critical effects of variegated lubricants, glidants and hydrophilic additives on lag time of press coated ethylcellulose tablets. Pharm Dev Technol. 2016;21(3):302-10. doi: 10.3109/10837450.2014.999788.

Horio T, Yasuda M, Matsusaka S. Measurement of flowability of lubricated powders by the vibrating tube method. Drug Dev Ind Pharm. 2013 Jul;39(7):1063-9. doi: 10.3109/03639045.2012.702349.