Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D3/00—Other compounding ingredients of detergent compositions covered in group C11D1/00
  • C11D3/40—Dyes ; Pigments
  • C11D3/42—Brightening agents ; Blueing agents

Definitions

• the invention relates to liquid laundry detergent compositions containing optical brighteners.
• optical brighteners in laundry detergent compositions has been known for a long time.
• op­tical brighteners with poor water solubility are used as dispersions because such products should have enough substantivity, which means that their affinity to the fibres of the substrate that is to be washed, should be high enough in order not to be washed out immediately.
• the use of such products has the disadvantage that the detergent compositions have a poor storage stability, that is to say that the optical brightener will precipitate. If, on the other hand, optical brighteners were to be used which are more soluble in water, these products would have an insufficient substantivity to the fibres of the substrate to be washed.
• both groups R are the same and both groups X are the same and the alkyl and alkylene groups have the same number of carbon atoms i.e. compounds of formulae I and II are preferably symmetrical. More preferably, in compounds of formula 1, X is other than hydroxy or R1 is hydrogen. Especially preferred compounds have the structure of formulae III, IV, V, VI and/or VII. Most preferred compound is the one of formula III.
• optical brighteners according to the invention are used in powder form or as solutions in water. Such solutions have a content of 18 to 75% by weight of active substance and preferably also contain hydrotropic substances.
• active substances are well known and can be produced according to conventional processes.
• liquid laundry detergent compositions according to the invention contain the usual components of such compositions.
• such components include anionic as well as non-ionic surfactants, builders, alkali, hydrotropic agents, buffers, enzymes and the like will be contained. It is also possible to include cationic softeners which will not precipitate.
• Typical detergent compositions contain from 0.05 to 0.15% by weight of optical brighteners (as 100% active substance), from 5 to 30%, preferably from 10 to 25% by weight of fatty acids, from 2 to 20%, preferably from 5 to 15% by weight of a further anionic surfactant, from 0.5 to 12%, preferably from 1.5 to 8% by weight of a non-ionic surfactant, to give in total from 20 to 50%, preferably from 30 to 50% by weight of surfactants and from 5 to 15% by weight of builders.
• the amount of alkali should be sufficient to neutralize all acids present and to reach a pH value suitable for washing.
• the fatty acids which are used as anionic surfactants are preferably saturated and unsaturated C5 ⁇ 22 carboxylic acids, more preferably C12 ⁇ 18.
• the fatty acids for example coco fatty acid or oleic acid are added as such and converted to the salt form by addition of alkali e.g. NaOH, KOH or an organic base e.g. triethanolamine.
• anionic surfactants which can be present may be any of the following conventional types:
• a preferred class of surfactants which are only weakly anionic are of the formula IX R-O-(CH2CH2O (A-COOH) x IX in which R is the residue of a C8 ⁇ 22 fatty alcohol or of an alkylphenol having 10-24 C atoms; A is a methylene or ethylene group; m is a number from 1-20; and x is an average value from 0.1 to 1.
• the most preferred component (B) is a compound of formula IX obtained by reacting a synthetic lauryl alcohol (C12 ⁇ 15) with 4-5 moles ethylene oxide and subsequently with 0.8 mole chloracetic acid.
• the compounds are normally used in the form of their alkali metal salts, particularly sodium salts.
• Nonionic surfactants which may be present include ethylene oxide (EO) / propylene oxide (PO) block copolymers (Pluronics), and the addition products of EO or PO, preferably EO, to fatty alcohols, fatty amines, fatty acids, fatty acid alkanolamides and alkylphenols. Such non-ionic surfactants are conventional and commercially available.
• Hydrotropic compounds which may be present include for example urea, dicyandiamide and its derivatives, alcohols, water-soluble glycols, glycol ethers and glycol esters and C1 ⁇ 4 alkylbenzene­sulphonates, provided that the compounds display no cloud point in distilled water up to 100°. They act so as to prevent phase separ­ation, that is to stabilize the liquid composition.
• Sequestering agents include citric acid, nitrilotriacetic acid and other complex formers. Buffers may be used to stabilise the pH of the wash liquor in the neutral or alkali region. Buffer substances include sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate and sodium silicate.
• cationic softeners e.g., products of acylation and quaternization of a polyalkylene polyamine of the formula X in which each R1, independently, is C12 ⁇ 18 alkyl or C12 ⁇ 18 alkenyl; each n, independently, is 2 or 3; R2 is C1 ⁇ 4 alkyl, C1 ⁇ 4 hydroxyalkyl, or C1 ⁇ 4 hydroxyalkyl etherified with 1-10 ethylene oxide groups; R3 is C1 ⁇ 4 alkyl or benzyl; and X ⁇ is a halide, methylsulphate or ethylsulphate anion.
• cationic softeners e.g., products of acylation and quaternization of a polyalkylene polyamine of the formula X in which each R1, independently, is C12 ⁇ 18 alkyl or C12 ⁇ 18 alkenyl; each n, independently, is 2 or 3; R2 is C1 ⁇ 4 alkyl, C1 ⁇ 4 hydroxyalkyl,
• the liquid detergent compositions of the invention are primarily useful as domestic laundry detergents. Not only do they display good washing power, they also produce a soft handle on laundered cotton goods. Being phosphate-free, they are ecologically acceptable.
• the liquid compositions of the invention are stable and do not separate into two phases, nor do the optical brighteners crystallize and precipitate on storage.
• the carboxymethylated ethylene oxide adduct of the formula C12 ⁇ 15O(CH2CH2O) 4,5 - (CH2COONa) 0,7 as a 50% paste in water, the non-ionic surfactant of the formula as a 99% paste in water, the softener of the formula in which R x 85% oleic acid and 15% stearic acid residue, as a 90% solution in water, polyacrylic acid A with MW 100.00 as a solution of 29% of the semi-neutralized acid (sodium salt), polyacrylic acid B with MW 4500 as a solution of 49% are used as well as the optical brighteners with the given formulas in the following compositions: Formula III as an aqueous solution that contains 28% active substance or as a powder with 89% active substance Formula IV as an aqueous solution that contains 20% active substance Formula V as an aqueous solution that contains 23% active substance or as a powder with 50% active substance Formula VII as an aqueous
• Example 1 is a so-called fabric softener
• Example 2 is a liquid laundry detergent for industrial use
• Example 3 is a complete laundry detergent for domestic use
• Example 4 is a liquid laundry detergent with fabric softener for domestic use
• Examples 5 and 6 are liquid laundry detergents for domestic use
• Example 7 is a concentrated complete laundry detergent for domestic use.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Detergent Compositions (AREA)

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Citations (8)

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• 1988
  • 1988-12-30 DE DE19883844341 patent/DE3844341A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 1989
  • 1989-12-27 EP EP19890810985 patent/EP0376893A3/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1989-12-27 JP JP33681589A patent/JPH02227497A/ja active Pending

Patent Citations (8)

Non-Patent Citations (5)

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