Alkyl polyglucosides production

In the production of alkyl polyglucosides unreacted higher alcohols like C12-C14 are left in the product. It is possible to remove these unreacted alcohols by solvent extraction with SC ethane ( Sridhar and Mullar, 1995). 

The development of an easy-to-handle method for the qualitative and quantitative determination of surfactants in consumer products was the goal for applying ESI in the FIA-MS(+/—) mode by direct infusion into the mass spectrometer. In this way Ci2, Ci4, Ci6 and Ci8 ASs could be determined besides other anionics (LASs, alkylcarboxylates), nonionics (alkyl polyglucosides (APGs)) and cationics (quats and ester-quats). The methods applied for concentration and determination (MS-MS) helped to identify the compounds and in addition deuterated internal standards were applied for confirmation [57]. 

The industrial pro cess is b ased on the Fischer synthesis and commercial development work started some 25 years ago. Once a route using coconut-based alcohols had been established, full-scale plants became viable and alcohol blends are now used to control hydrophobicity of the molecules produced. Thus, products based on C8 alcohols are water soluble and those based on C18 are virtually insoluble. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) values of pure alkyl glucosides and CulCu alkyl polyglucoside (APG) are comparable with those of a typical non-ionic surfactant and decrease with increasing alkyl chain length. 

This section briefly describes the anionic and nonionic surfactants commonly used in commercial HDLD formulations. Cationic surfactants, although used on a large scale, are found predominantly in rinse-added fabric softener products. LAS, alcohol ethoxylates, and alkyl ether sulfates are three of the most widely used surfactants in liquid laundry detergents [44], Recently, various external considerations, such as environmental pressures, have prompted manufacturers to change their surfactant mix to include newer natural-based surfactants [45-47], including alkyl polyglucosides (Henkel) [48],... 

Alkyl polyglucosides (CAS No. 110615-47-9) are a relatively new class of nonionic surfactants, fully based on renewable vegetable resources and easily biodegradable, and hence they are finding increasing applications in many industrial fields, including the personal care industry. There is a book published by VCH publishers discussing their history, production, physicochemical properties, toxicity, and applications in various industries. There is also a Surfactant Science Series... 

The most common nonionic surfactants are those based on ethylene oxide, referred to as ethoxylated surfactants. Several classes can be distinguished alcohol ethoxylates, alkyl phenol ethoxylates, fatty acid ethoxylates, sorbitan ester ethoxylates, fatty amine ethoxylates, and ethylene oxide-propylene oxide copolymers (sometimes referred to as polymer surfactants). Another important class of nonionics are the multihydroxy products such as glycol esters, glycerol (and polyglycerol) esters, glucosides (and polyglucosides), and sucrose esters. Amine oxides and sulfinyl surfactants represent nonionic with a small head group. 

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