DEEDMAC

Yet another ingredient in laundry detergents is diethyl ester dimethyl ammonium chloride (DEEDMAC). It is a fabric softener. It is a cationic surfactant that is rapidly biodegradable. It works by reducing the friction between fibers, and between fibers and... 

From the esterquats introduced onto the surfactant market in the early 1990s, DEEDMAC, LEQ and EQ (Table 1.3) have gained widespread use [24-26]. 

ABS AE AE/P AES AG AOS APEO APG AS BiAS BM c6(EO)3 CNPEC CTAS D DATS DCPEG DEEDMAC branched alkylbenzene sulfonate alcohol ethoxylate alcohol ethoxylate/propoxylate alkylether sulfate alkyl glucamide a-olefin sulfonate alkylphenol ethoxylate alkyl polyglucoside alkyl sulfate bismuth active substances alkyldimethylbenzyl ammonium triethylene glycol monohexyl ether carboxylated nonylphenoxy carboxylates cobalt thiocyanate active substances R2S10(o.5)2 dialkyl tetralinsulfonate dicarboxylated PEG ditallow ester of di(hydroxyethyl)dimethyl ammonium chloride... 

DEEDMAC dieethanolester dimethylammonium surfactant used as fabric softeners... 

Table 17.9 shows that DEEDMAC is the quaternary cationic surfactant with the highest rate constant. Since it is the only onethat is hydrolyzed, the different degradation pathways probably account for the differences. 

Replacement of alkyl chains by an ester increases the values of k in the case of the (Cn)2Me2N+ cationic surfactants, indicating that hydrolysis is a more rapid biodegradation pathway than co-P-Oxidation. However, comparison of the k -values of C12S04 with that of DEEDMAC demonstrates that other structural moieties also have significant influence on biodegradability. The available data do not allow conclusions as to which factors are involved. 

Giolando, S.T., R.A. Rapaport, R. J. Larson, T.W. Federle, M. Stalmans, and P. Mascheleyn. 1995. Environmental fate and effects of DEEDMAC a new rapidly degradable cationic surfactant for use in fabric softeners. Chemosphere 30, 1067-1083. 

Baker, E. (1994) Preparation, properties and formulation of DEEDMAC An environmentally friendly cationic surfactant. Oral presentation at the 85th Annual AOCS National Meeting, Atlanta, GA. 

As described above, esterquats differ structurally from DTDMACs by the presence of ester linkages in the alkyl chains. These linkages allow a rapid and complete biodegradation of esterquats. For example, DEEDMACs reached about 80% CO2 evolution in the modified Sturm test. With respect to the other criteria, DEEDMACs can be classified as readily biodegradable. In addition, a rapid and high anaerobic biodegradability of DEEDMACs was found (22). Similar results were reported from biodegradation tests with esterquats, DEQs and DTIEs. There was almost a complete mineralization and stable metabolites were not formed. 

DEEDMAC Algae EC50, 96 h, growth inhibition (OECD 201) 2.9... 

J Waters et al. Tenside Surf Det 28(6) 460, 1991 ES Baker. Preparation, properties, and performance of deedmac, an environmentally friendly cationic softener. AOCS Convention, Atlanta, 1994. 

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