Sugar-derived nonionic surfactants

There are over 150 different producers and some 2 million tonnes of commercial nonionic surfactants manufactured worldwide of which at least 50% are alkoxylated alcohols. Ethoxylated nonylphenol production is falling and accounts for 20% of the market while alkoxylated fatty acids account for some 15%. Fatty acid amides and sugar esters account for another 10% and there are a large number of specialities making up the balance. In general, non-ionic surfactants are easy to make, relatively inexpensive and derived from a variety of feedstocks. 

U.S.6489286 (2002) Lukenbach et al. (Johnson Johnson) Nonionic/amphoteric/anionic surfactants at least two conditioning agents selected from cationic celluloses, sugar derivatives, and homopolymers or copolymers Nonirritating, suitable for children and adults having sensitive skin and eyes imparts wet and dry detangling, and manageability... 

Nonionic surfactants. Surfactants that carry no electrical charge, as their water solubiUty is derived from the presence of polar functionalities capable of significant hydrogen bonding interaction with water (e.g., polyoxyethylenes, sugars, polyglycidols). 

Since nonionic carbohydrate-derived surfactants are available in sufficient quantities and at competitive costs at present, anionic versirais of these chemicals such as carboxylates, sulfates, and phosphates are less common. Until now there have been only a few products (anionic derivatives of APG) established in the market [29]. Indeed, the derivatization of neutral sugar-based surfactants to furnish anionic compounds is not easy at a competitive cost with the sulfate (alcohol ether sulfates, AES) and sulfonate (linear alkylbenzene sulfcaiates, LAS) surfactants derived from petrochemicals. Within this context, uronate derivatives possessing carboxylate functionality represent attractive starting materials for the preparation of negatively charged surfactants. 

TABLE 4 Thermodynamic Parameters for Four Series of Nonionic Carbohydrate-Derived Surfactants in Which the Alkyl Chains are Linked Through an Al-Acetyl Amine Bond to Different Sugar Headgroups at 40°C... 

One area of rapidly expanding interest is the use of reverse micellar systems of sugar-based surfactants in the extraction of proteins and other sensitive materials. The use of hydrophilic, nonionic, sugar-based surfactants for membrane protein extraction is well known to be effective due to the mild, nondenaturing properties of these surfactants when compared with ionic surfactants or polyoxyethylene derivatives. For the same reasons, protein extraction into reverse micellar systems is now becoming a popular medium for such applications. Alkyl sorbitan esters and ethoxylated sorbitan esters, such as Tween 85 [107] and Span 60 [108], have been used successfully to form reverse micellar systems for protein extraction. Blends of Tween and Span have also been found to be effective for this purpose [109]. More recently, commercially available sucrose fatty acid esters have been shown to form biocompatible reverse micellar systems into which cytochrome c is effectively extracted [110]. 

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