Normal heptane was discovered in 1862 by Carl Schorlemmer, who, while analyzing pyrolysis products of the cannel coal mined in Wigan, identified, separated by fractional distillation and studied a series of liquid hydrocarbons inert to nitric and sulfuric acids.

[9] During the American Civil War and shortly thereafter Californians discovered that some pines gave turpentine with unusual properties.

Since 1974, the United States Postal Service has issued self-adhesive stamps that some collectors find difficult to separate from envelopes via the traditional method of soaking in water.

It was originally chosen as the zero point of the scale because of the availability of very high purity n-heptane, unmixed with other isomers of heptane or other alkanes, distilled from the resin of Jeffrey pine and from the fruit of Pittosporum resiniferum.

Heptane has nine isomers, or eleven if enantiomers are counted: The linear n-heptane can be obtained from Jeffrey pine oil.

[17] The six branched isomers without a quaternary carbon can be prepared by creating a suitable secondary or tertiary alcohol by the Grignard reaction, converting it to an alkene by dehydration, and hydrogenating the latter.

[17] Acute exposure to heptane vapors can cause dizziness, stupor, incoordination, loss of appetite, nausea, dermatitis, chemical pneumonitis, unconsciousness, or possible peripheral neuropathy.