Cholic acid

Cholic acid is a bile acid, a white crystalline substance insoluble in water, with a melting point of 200-201 °C. Salts of cholic acid are called cholates. Cholic acid is one of the four main acids produced by the liver where it is synthesized from cholesterol. It is soluble in alcohol and acetic acid. It forms a conjugate with taurine, yielding taurocholic acid.

Cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid are the most important human bile acids. Some other mammals synthetize predominantly deoxycholic acid.