Polarity of broad and narrow distributed ethoxylates of fatty alcohols

Voelkel, Adam; Szymanowski, J.; Hreczuch, W.

doi:10.1007/bf02641008

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 26 publications

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“…Homolog distributions of the ethoxylation products were chromatographically determined (12,13). Alcohol ethoxylates with the lowest degrees of ethoxylation were analyzed by gas chromatography, while for alcohol ethoxylates with the highest degrees of ethoxylation a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) procedure was used.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of homolog distribution on the toxicity of alcohol ethoxylates

Garcı́a

Ribosa

Ghosh

et al. 1996

J Americ Oil Chem Soc

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Previous work established a high correlation between the potential environmental toxicity of oxyethylenated nonionic surfactants and the average degree of ethoxylation. For this reason, it was considered of interest to determine whether a narrow-or broad-range homolog distribution of polydisperse commercial alcohol ethoxylates would influence toxicity. Ethoxylated fatty alcohols, both linear and branched, were synthesized with sodium hydroxide or an unconventional calcium-based catalyst. Toxicity tests were run on Daphnia magna and luminescent marine bacteria. Toxicity of ethoxylated alcohols as a function of type of ethoxy[ate homolog distribution (narrow or broad) and average degree of polyaddition is analogous for both test species. However, narrow-range ethoxylates show lower toxicity values than conventional ethoxylates. Differences in toxicity values between broad-and narrow-range ethoxylates depend on the degree of ethoxylation.JAOC5 73, 903-906 (1996).KFy WORDS: Alcohol ethoxylates, homofog distribution, toxicity.Extensive use of ethoxylated fatty alcohols in products of high consumption, such as detergent formulations, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical chemicals, justifies an increasing interest in improving physical characteristics and behavior. Properties of ethoxylated compounds depend not only on the starting alcohol structure and total content of ethylene oxide (EO) units (1), but also on the specific distribution of ethoxylated homologs (2--4), the latter being influenced by the conditions and type of catalyst used for their synthesis (5-8). On an industrial scale, conventional manufacturing processes yield ethoxylated alcohols with a broad distribution of EO homologs. When comparing broad-range distribution homologs (BRD) with those with narrow-range distributions (NRD), the latter contain lower amounts of free fatty alcohol. NRD ethoxylates also contain fewer homologs with higher and lower degrees of ethoxylation. Consequently, physicochemical properties, such as solubility, viscosity, and surface tension, can be different. These differences may translate into distinct advantages in certain applications, examples of which are reduction in pluming during spray drying, more degrees *To whom correspondence should be addressed at Departamento de Tensioactivos. CID/CSIC, C/Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain. of freedom for liquid formulations, better humectability, and less odor. Thus, for optimizing the efficiency of ethoxylated fatty alcohols, it may be important to produce these products with narrow-range technology, which requires the use of proprietary ethoxylation catalysts.The main objective of this research was to determine whether the toxicity of ethoxylated alcohols is affected by a broad-or narrow-range EO distribution while taking into account the tight relationship between toxicity and ethoxylation degree of nonionic surfactants reported previously (9,10). EXPERIMENTAl PROCEDURESMaterials. For the synthesis of ethoxylates, the following hydrophobic substrates were used: n-dodecanol (9...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of homolog distribution on the toxicity of alcohol ethoxylates

Garcı́a

Ribosa

Ghosh

et al. 1996

J Americ Oil Chem Soc

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Nonionic surfactant polarity index determination by inverse gas chromatography

Nace

Knoell²

1995

J Americ Oil Chem Soc

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Polyglycol nonionic surfactants are widely used in industrial and consumer products. Two classes of these surfactants, made from selected combinations of 1,2-butylene oxide, propylene oxide and ethylene oxide, were compared to alcohol ethoxylate (AE) and nonyl phenol ethoxylate nonionic surfactants in this study. Polyglycol copolymers consisted of either a polypropylene glycol (PPG) or polybutylene glycol (PBG) central hydrophobe. Ethoxylation of the hydrophobes produced polyethylene glycol hydrophilic blocks. Differences in hydrophobe polarity were determined by inverse gas chromatography (IGC). IGC is a useful analytical method by which the physical and chemicaI characteristics of a material are studied. The stationary surfactant material under study was coated onto an inert support and used as the packing for the column. A probe mixture, containing simple organic molecules of varying polarity, was injected, and the retention characteristics were measured. The retention characteristics of the standard probe mixture were used to reveal relative polarity information about the stationary surfactant coatings. Polarities of the four hydrophobes were (in decreasing order): PPG, PBG, nonyl phenyl and fatty alkyl. Comparisons were then made between the calculated hydrophile-lipophile balance values and polarity indices of the hydrophobes and their ethoxylates. The effects of hydroxyl groups on polarity were also studied and quantified. JAOCS 72, 89-95 (1995).

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Elimination of adsorption effects of polarity parameters determined by inverse gas chromatography

Voelkel

Janas

1995

Journal of Chromatography A

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Polarity of broad and narrow distributed ethoxylates of fatty alcohols

Cited by 4 publications

References 26 publications

Effect of homolog distribution on the toxicity of alcohol ethoxylates

Effect of homolog distribution on the toxicity of alcohol ethoxylates

Nonionic surfactant polarity index determination by inverse gas chromatography

Elimination of adsorption effects of polarity parameters determined by inverse gas chromatography

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