What are the characteristics of alkyl glycoside surfactants

2022-06-15 16:47:41

Alkyl glucoside (APG) is a new type of non-ionic surfactant which has been industrialized since 1990s. Alkyl glycosides are mixed products (mono glycosides, di glycosides, tri glycosides, etc., so they are also called alkyl polyglycosides) obtained by the loss of water under the catalysis of acid from the semiacetal hydroxyl and fatty alcohol hydroxyl of glucose. Their general molecular structure formula is ro (g) n, in which the sugar unit is hydrophilic, and the long-chain or branched alkanes are lipophilic. Alkyl glycosides are hygroscopic solids. Pure alkyl glycosides are white powders. Industrial products are pale yellow or light yellow due to impurities. Alkyl glycosides are soluble in water, and the products are generally made into 50 ~ 70% aqueous solution.

Compared with other surfactants, alkyl glycoside surfactants have the characteristics of low surface tension, strong decontamination, stability in alkaline environment, excellent compounding performance, low skin irritation and low toxicity. At the same time, because it is prepared with glucose and fatty alcohol, it has good biodegradability and no pollution to the environment. With superior performance and great development potential, it is widely used in washing, cosmetics, food and other industrial fields. As a new type of environmental friendly surfactant, in recent years, the research on alkyl glycosides has increasingly become one of the most active research fields and development priorities of surfactants

In recent years, great progress has been made in the research on the method of glycosylation. For example, songchunlingkou 1 used methyl benzene sulfonic acid as catalyst to synthesize alkyl glycosides by transglycosylation. The influence factors of different process conditions on the yield of alkyl glycosides were investigated. The results showed that the main factor affecting the yield of alkyl glycosides was the unitary ratio of catalyst to glucose.

It can be seen that in recent years, the domestic hot spots on the synthesis of alkyl glycosides by transglycosylation are mainly focused on the improvement of catalysts and raw materials. There are also relevant reports abroad, such as c4-22 in the U.S. patent. Oligoglucosides were synthesized from light colored glucose or hydrolyzed starch and fatty alcohols by using some sulfated products of fatty alcohols as acid catalysts