Primary alcohol ethoxylates

Me-ester sulfonation has to be carried out at relatively high temperatures as the initial reactions and the decomposition of intermediate products is relatively slow compared with sulfonation reaction rates for alkylbenzenes, primary alcohols, ethoxylated alcohols, and a-olefins. The required aging time for conversion of the intermediates to FAME sulfonation acid is long (about 45 min at 85°C). It is not possible to sulfonate Me-esters without an excess of S03. 

The neutralization process consists of an exothermic reaction between a neutralizing agent and either sulfonic acid (e.g., LAB, a-olefins, FAME) or acid sulfate (e.g., primary alcohols, ethoxylated alcohols). Neutralization can be carried out after prolonged storage if the acid stability permits (LAS, FAMES). 

Linear Primary Alcohol Ethoxylates (LPAE). The hydrophobes of LPAE are made in several ways ... 

Branched Primary Alcohol Ethoxylates (BPAE). The hydrophobes of BPAE are produced by oligomerization of propylene or butene followed by catalytic addition of CO and H2 to yield highly branched alcohols. The ethoxylates of these alcohols biodegrade more slowly and less extensively than the linear alcohol ethoxylates (11.12). 

Figure 6. Suggested biodegradation pathway for hydrophobe of linear primary alcohol ethoxylates.

A C1215 essentially linear primary alcohol ethoxylate having an average of 9 ethylene oxide (EO) units per mole of alcohol (C12.15LPAE-9). The alcohol was prepared from Ci i.u olefins using catalytic addition of CO and H2. Approximately 80% of this alcohol contained linear alkyl chains. The 20% remaining contained 2-alkyl branches, mostly methyl. 

C12-15 linear, primary alcohol ethoxylate or equivalent, such as Neodol 25-9 (Shell). 

Smith(7) and Fisher(8) recently published articles on the relationship of viscosity, pour point and alkyl chain length of primary alcohol ethoxylates(PAE) and SAE. The empirical equations proposed are in fairly good agreement with the authors obser-... 

Surfactant critical micelle concentration (cmc) may be related to chemical structure using multiple correlation analysis. The cmc value plays an important role in surfactant adsorption, foaming, and interfacial tension properties. The 25 C cmc values of a series of high purity single component highly linear primary alcohol ethoxylates (Table 6) were analyzed using equation 4 ... 

The correlation equation obtained using the data summarized in Table 10 was 0.938. The modest correlation coefficient may be due to the use of commercial linear primary alcohol ethoxylates from two different manufacturers. Variatiofts in hydrophobe linearity, hydrophobe carbon number distribution about the average value, and EO chain length distribution about the average value were not considered in equation 8. This interpretation is supported by the observation that inclusion of data for three secondary (methyl branched at the alpha position of the hydrophobe) alcohol ethoxylates in the analysis resulted in a decrease of the correlation coefficient to <0.90. 

Ethoxylated primary alcohol Ethoxylated nonyl phenol Ethoxylated thio-ethers... 

NEODOL 25-7, 25-9, 25-30, 25-45 (nonionic, linear primary alcohol ethoxylates)... 

Neodol 91-6 Linear primary alcohol. Ethoxylate Shell... 

Sulphosuccinic acid esters should be grouped into mono- and diesters. The first step of the monoester sulphosuccinate synthesis is the esterification of a hydroxyl-bearing stock material by maleic acid anhydride. As stock materials, long-chain primary alcohols, ethoxylated alcohols, ethoxylated alkylphenols, alkanolamides, ethoxylated alkanolamides, or monoglycerides are generally used [10, p. 405 ff 75, 76]. 

Classification Linear primary alcohol ethoxylate Properties Nonionic... 

Classirication Linear primary alcohol ethoxylate Derinition PEG deriv. of undecyl alcohol Empiricai C17H36O4... 

Fatty acids. Fatty acids can be ethoxylated in what amounts to a two-step process where the first mole of EO adds slowly to the dry, precatalyzed acid to yield the hydroxyethyl ester. Because of the presence of carboxylic acid, the reaction runs slowly under general acid catalysis and does not produce substantial quantities of polyethoxylated product. Once the free carboxylic acids are completely capped, the pH of the system becomes alkaline and the reaction proceeds in a comparable manner to any primary alcohol ethoxylation. Some competing transesterification occurs at temperatures above 120°C, leading to a product distribution of PEG monoesters, diesters, and free PEG. 

Glyceryl ethers are formed by the reaction of an epoxide compound with an organic hydroxyl compound as seen in Figure 8.1. The epoxide compounds, which can be used for this reaction, include alkylene oxides, epihalohydrins, nitro epoxide compounds, epoxide ethers, and epoxide thioethers. There are many types of hydroxyl compounds that can be used the most used in industry includes primary alcohols, ethoxylated alcohols, and branched alcohols. The types of catalyst used for this reaction include acid acting compounds and metal halides such as sulfuric acid and stannic chloride, respectively. ... 

The biodegradation pathways for AE have been studied extensively using linear, primary alcohol ethoxylates as the model [9,19-22], Fignre 1 depicts the three possibilities for initial point of attack ... 

Primary alcohol ethoxylates are an important class of detergent feedstock for anionic active manufacture. They are made by the addition of ethylene oxide to a primary alcohol in the presence of an alkaline catalyst. The addition of the second ethylene oxide molecule to the alcohol is kinetically favoured in comparison with the addition of the first ethylene oxide, hence the product of ethoxylation contains a distribution of ethylene oxide chain lengths attached to the alcohol along with the starting alcohol itself. Consequently the physical, detergency and biodegradation characteristics are affected not only by the carbon chain length distribution as is the case for primary alcohols, but also by the ethylene oxide distribution which in turn can be supplier dependent. 

Two examples of commercial primary alcohol ethoxylates from Shell ("Dobanol" ethoxylates) show the following physical and chemical properties ... 

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