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Alcohol ethoxycarboxylates—Mild, high‐foaming surfactants for personal‐care products
Author(s) -
Schmidt W. W.,
Durante D. R.,
Gingell R.,
Harbell J. W.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/s11746-997-0114-0
Subject(s) - shampoo , pulmonary surfactant , chemistry , irritation , alcohol , skin irritation , organic chemistry , chromatography , biochemistry , medicine , dermatology , immunology , biology
Alcohol ethoxycarboxylates (AEC) may be derived from alcohol ethoxylates (AEO) either by reaction of the nonionic surfactant with monochloroacetic acid (MCAA) or by oxidation. If MCAA is used, a ‐CH 2 COOH unit is added to the AEO. When an AEO is oxidized, the terminal ‐CH 2 OH group is selectively converted to ‐COOH. By use of proprietary carefully controlled oxidation technology, a variety of AEC surfactants have been synthesized. These surfactants exhibit good foaming and excellent line soap dispersion, and they allow formulation of high‐quality personal‐care products. Starter formulations have been investigated with AEC, both in shampoos and liquid hand cleaners. These formulations had the viscosity and foaming found in a survey of commercially available products. A shampoo and a liquid soap formulation with AEC were subjected to in‐vitro assays to assess the potential for irritation to the skin or eyes. The assay results predict these formulations to cause minimal irritation, similar to commercial products.