Composition Comprising Alcohol Alkoxylates And Their Use

Abstract

The present invention relates to low foaming non-ionic surfactants being alcohol alkoxylates comprising at least two different oxyalkylene-groups derivable from a mixture of linear an branched alcohols and their use

Description

EXAMPLES

For illustrative and non-limiting purposes, non-ionic surfactants having the general formula (V) were prepared wherein R is a mixture of C12 to C13 linear and branched alkyl with R₁=H and R₂=CH₃ and CH₂ CH₃ and the index x was between 1 and 10, and y between 1 and 6 with z=1.

RO—[(CH₂CHR₁O)_x(CH₂CHR₂O)_y]_z—H  (V)

297 grams of C12 to C13 FT alcohol (SAFOL™ 23 alcohol) were placed in an auto-clave into which 3.9 grams of potassium hydroxide (50% in water) were charged. The autoclave was then heated to 150° C. under vacuum to dehydrate the reaction mixture. The temperature was then brought to 160° C., and 330 grams of ethylene oxide were slowly fed. At the end of the reaction of the ethylene oxide, when the pressure drop had been stabilized, 350 grams of propylene oxide were fed. At the end of the reaction the product was cooled to 80° C. and neutralized up to pH 6 with acetic acid.

Physical-chemical characteristics of alcohol-EO-POs of examples of the present invention prepared according to the above mentioned method are given in Table 1.

TABLE 1
		Cloud	Wetting	Foaming
	Appearance	point	power	power
Product	at 20° C.	[° C.]	[sec]	[cm]
C12-C13 FT alcohol +	Liquid	41	>200	1
2EO + 2PO
C12-C13 FT alcohol +	Liquid	39	100	1
2EO + 4PO
C12-C13 FT alcohol +	Liquid	48	15	3
5EO + 4PO
C12-C13 FT alcohol +	Liquid	40	15	2
5EO + 5PO
C12-C13 FT alcohol +	Liquid	35	15	1
5EO + 6PO

The cloud point was determined in butyl diglycol by using the method DIN EN 1890. This involved determining the temperature above which the solution turns cloudy. The lower the cloud temperature, the lower the foaming tendency.

The wetting power was determined at 20° C. by method DIN EN 1772. The wetting effect corresponds to the time taken for a cotton disk to sink in aqueous solution. The shorter the sinking time, the better the wetting efficiency.

The foaming power was determined at 40° C. under high pressure conditions with a 1 g/l active surfactant solution in a foam-test cabin. The test apparatus consists of a reservoir for the surfactant solution, a pump and a test cabin. The foam is generated by spraying the surfactant solution with pressure onto a wire netting (placed in the cabin) and the foam height in the cabin is determined by a graduation (in cm). In this test low-foaming alcohol-EO-POs from the market typically showed foam heights of 1 to 10 cm, regular alcohol ethoxylates with 7 moles EO produce foam heights of more than 20 cm.

In the following properties of the non-ionic surfactants of the present invention are compared to typical traditional surfactants based on a linear alcohol (Table 2).

TABLE 2
	Wetting
Product	power [sec]	Foaming power [cm]
C12-C13 FT alcohol-5EO-4PO	15	3
Linear C12-C14 alcohol-5EO-4PO	20	3

Compared to the traditional linear C12 to C14 alcohol-5EO-4PO from the market the C12-C13-FT alcohol-5EO-4PO of the present invention had a better wetting performance.

Biodegradability tests carried out on C12 to C13 FT alcohol-2EO-4PO, C12-C13 FT alcohol-5EO-4PO and C12-C13 FT alcohol-5EO-6PO gave excellent results with respect to the total biodegradability, and the given products turned out to be readily biodegradable.

FIG. 1 shows the biodegradation performance of C12-C13-FT alcohol-EO-POs (CO₂ Evolution Test on “ready” biodegradability according to OECD 301 B).

All three tested FT alcohol-EO-POs reached the pass level of 60% for ready biodegradability within the 10-day window:

C12-C13 FT alcohol+2EO+4PO reached 83% at the end of the 10-day window

C12-C13 FT alcohol+5EO+4PO reached 79% at the end of the 10-day window

C12-C13 FT alcohol+5EO+6PO reached 81% at the end of the 10-day window.

Therefore all three tested products can be termed “readily” biodegradable.

The biodegradation of the FT alcohol-EO-PO derivatives was compared with traditional alcohol-EO-POs (FIG. 2, CO₂ Evolution Test on “ready” biodegradation according to OECD 301 B).

Biodac® 40 is an alcohol EO-PO based on a linear Ziegler-alcohol, with an alkyl chain having 10 carbon atoms, ethoxylated with 4 moles of ethylene oxide and propoxylated with 2 mole of propylene oxide.

Isofol® 12-1PO-4EO is based on a branched Guerbet alcohol, with an allyl chain having 12 carbon atoms, propoxylated with 1 mole propylene oxide and then ethoxylated with 4 moles of ethylene oxide.

Compared to the C12-C13 FT alcohol-EO-POs of the present invention Biodac 40 and Isofol® 12-1PO-4EO showed a lower biodegradation level at the end of the 28 day period. Both Biodac® 40 and Isofol 12-1PO-4EO did not reach the 60% level for “ready” biodegradation:

Biodac® 40 reached 48% at the end of the 10-day window

Isofol® 12-1PO-4EO reached 42% at the end of the 10-day window.

Therefore both products do not fulfill the 10-day window criterium and are not classified as “ready” biodegradable.

Typical formulation examples to use the alcohol alkoxylates of this invention in machine dish wash powders and in liquid rinse aids with low-foaming characteristics are given in Table 3 (Dish washing detergents) and Table 4 (Rinse aids).

The given formulations showed a low-foaming characteristic when applied in dish-washing machines and a good cleaning and rinsing performance.

TABLE 3
Automatic Dishwashing Powders
Example A (phosphate-free powder)
Sodium disilicate                25%
Sodium citrate dihydrate         35%
C12-13 FT alcohol-5EO-4PO        2.5%
Polycarboxylate                  5%
Sodium perborate mono hydrate    15%
Tetraacetylethylenediamine (TAED) 4%
Enzymes                          4%
Sodium sesquicarbonate           to 100
Example B (powder based on phosphate)
C12-C13-FT alcohol-5EO-4PO       1%
Sodium tripolyphosphate          40%
Sodium metasilicate              35%
Sodium carbonate                 22%
Sodium dichlor isocyanurate      2%

TABLE 4
Rinse aids for machine dishwash
Example C
C12-C13 FT alcohol-5EO-4PO    10%
C16-C18 fatty alcohol-25EO    5%
(MARLIPAL ® 1618/25, Sasol Germany)
Citric acid                   3%
Isopropanol                   15%
Water                         to 100
Example D
C12-C13 FT alcohol-5EO-4PO    10%
Sodium cumene sulfonate*, 40% 10%
Citric acid                   5%
Water                         to 100
*(Na Cumene sulfonate 40, Sasol Germany)

Claims

1. Composition comprising alcohol alkoxylates of the general formula (V) RO[(CH2CHR10)x(CH2CHR20)y]z—H  (V)wherein the residue RO is derivable from a mixture of alcohols ROH, being essentially primary alcohols, essentially consisting of(a) from 20 to 80% by mass of alcohols that are linear and aliphatic and comprise 8 to 20 carbon atoms,(b) from 10 to 80% by mass of alcohols that are aliphatic and comprise 8 to 20 carbon atoms, and1, 2 or 3 carbon atoms are tertiary carbon atoms whereasnone of the two carbon atoms in the 1 or 2 position relative to theOH group is a tertiary carbon atom and(c) up to 25% by mass of alcohols different from (a) and (b) and comprise 8 to 20 carbon atoms,wherein for all alcohols according to (a), (b) and (c) at least 80% of the tertiary carbon atoms related to the total of all tertiary carbon atoms in the alcohol mixture are not directly adjacent,the alcohols according to (a), (b) and (c) supplement one another essentially to 100% by mass andwherein for the alcohols (b) and (c) that have alkyl branching at least 80% of the alkyl branches are methyl and/or ethyl andR1 and R2 are independent of one another and optionally different for each z, and are selected from the group consisting of H and linear aliphatic C1 to C3 hydrocarbons with the proviso thatR1 and R2 are not the same for one z,x and y are independent of one another and optionally different for each z value from 2 to 10, andz has a value of from 1 to 5.

2. Composition according to claim 1, wherein x is from 2 to 6,y is from 2 to 6,z is from 1 to 2, preferably 1, andR1 is H and R2 is methyl, ethyl or propyl orR1 is methyl, ethyl or propyl and R2 is H.

3. Composition according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the alcohol mixture comprise independently of each other 40 to 80% by mass of alcohol (a),40 to 80% by mass of alcohol (b) and/or10 to 20% by mass of alcohol (c).

4. Composition according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein alcohols (a), (b) and/or (c) comprise independently from each other 9 to 16 carbon atoms.

5. Composition according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein for alcohols (b) 1 or 2 carbon atoms are tertiary carbon atoms and independently none of the three carbon atoms in the 1, 2 or 3 position relative to the OH group is a tertiary carbon atom.

6. Composition according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein for alcohols (b) none of the two, carbon atoms at the end of the chain are tertiary carbon atoms.

7. Composition according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein at least 95% of the tertiary carbon atoms relative to the total of all tertiary carbon atoms in the alcohol mixture are not directly adjacent.

8. Composition according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein at least one x or y is equal to or greater than 2.

9. Composition according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the alcohols ROH are derivable from olefins obtainable by Fischer Tropsch Synthesis via hydroformylation.

10. (canceled)

11. Composition of matter according to claim 19, wherein the composition of matter additionally comprises other anionic, nonionic and/or cationic surfactants, or mixtures thereof.

12. Composition of matter according to claim 11, wherein the additional anionic surfactants are selected from the group consisting of sulfonates and/or sulfates.

13. Composition of matter according to claim 11, wherein the additional nonionic surfactants are selected from the group consisting of adducts of ethylene oxide and/or propylene oxide, of alkylphenols, fatty acids, fatty amines and/or fatty acid amides and/or adducts of ethylene oxide to C8 to C18 fatty alcohols.

14-15. (canceled)

16. The composition of claim 4, wherein said alcohols (a), (b) and/or (c) comprise independently from each other 10 to 14 carbon atoms.

17. The composition of claim 4, wherein said alcohols (a), (b) and/or (c) comprise independently from each other 12 to 13 carbon atoms.

18. The composition of claim 8, wherein x and y are from 2 to 10.

19. Composition of matter comprising up to a concentration of 50% by weight of the composition of any one of claims 1 or 2.

20. Composition of matter according to claim 19, wherein the concentration is from 0.1 to 20% by weight.

21. Composition of matter according to claim 19, wherein the concentration is from 0.2 to 15% by weight.

22. Composition of matter of claim 12, wherein said additional anionic surfactants are selected from the group consisting of C9 to C16 alkyl benzolsulfonates, C12 to C18 alkyl sulfates, C12 to C15 alkyl ether sulfates, butylglycol sulfate and mixtures thereof.

23. Composition of matter of claim 11, wherein said additional anionic surfactant comprises saturated C12 to C18 fatty acid soaps.

24. Composition of matter of claim 13, wherein said adducts of said C8 to C18 fatty alcohols contain from 3 to 15 mols of ethylene oxide.

25. Composition according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein for alcohols (b) none of the three, carbon atoms at the end of the chain are tertiary carbon atoms.