US1661620A - Process for the production of washing agents - Google Patents

Description

Patented Mar. 6, 1928.

UNITE sTA'rEs PATENT- oFicE.

GBIGORI PETBOFF, OF MOSCOW, RUSSIA, AN D PETER SHESTAKOFF, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF WASHING AGENTS.

No Drawing. Application filed December 30, 1926, Serial No. 78,488, and in Germany February 20, 1925.

This invention relates to processes of preparing washing compounds and it comprises a process in which mixtures of aromatic hydrocarbons and highly unsaturated drying or semi-drying oils are sulfonated and the sulfonation product thereafter purlfied.

Virtually all of the washing compounds at present in use .consist of alkali salts of fatty acids such as sodium stearateor other sodium salts. However, incertain cases, these soaps are not suitable for use because of the liberation by hydrolysis of free alkalies and because the washing and emulsifying properties of the soaps diminish in proportion to the hardness of the water. In the textile industries, soaps, used as washmg compounds, exert a detrimental eifect on the fibres of the textiles because of the free alkali liberated as stated. Therefore, it has been the practice to'replace soaps by salts of sulfurized castor oil which may be employed either as such or mixed with carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethylene, hydrogenated naphthaline, phenols, etc. It has also been proposed to use sulphonic acids derived from naphthaline or naphtha distillates. These substances however, since they are obt-alned as by-products in refining naphtha 'distillates contain considerable quantities of mineral oils which make them unsuitable in cases where the material to be treated therewith contains oils, such as in the treatment of wool.

We have found that washing compounds may be obtained which are devoid of the above defects residing in soaps or other proposed washing agents by sulfonating mixtures of aromatic hydrocarbons or phenols with drying or semi-drying oils.

We have further found that in order to obtain products of high quality and suitable for use, that the mixture to be sulfonated must have certain characteristics. First, the mixture to be sulfonated should contain a mixture of high molecular weight aromatic hydrocarbons with low molecular ones, for instance, benzol with naphthaline and second the amount of drying or semi-drying oils present should be about to based on the weight of aromatic hydrocarbons. In other words the drying or semi-drying oils should be in an amount such'that considerably less than molal weight of or semi-drying oils is present for one molal weight of the aromatic hydrocarbons.

The sulfonation of the mixture is carried out in the cold with concentrated sulphuric acid. During the sulfonation the temperature may rise of its own accord to about 95 to 100 C. The mixture is'left at rest for 10'to 12 hours and then washed with water in order to eliminate the sulfuric acids. The sulfonated mass is then treated with benzine, benzol or other solvents to eliminate therefrom the excess hydrocarbons and fatty acids. The resulting product is obtained in the form of a thick viscous mass which has good washing properties and may be used not only in the form of a neutral alkali metal salt but also in the form of its free acid. Its washing, emulsifying, and wetting properties are not diminished by the use of hard water as is the case when ordinary soaps are used. The washing compound so obtained may be used not only as a washing material" to eliminate dirt, but also as a compound suitable for the purpose of emulsifying and hydrolyzing starch, dextrine, fats, pectin,

etc. The compound prepared as described above has properties which differentiate it from the sulfoaromatic fatty acids known as Twitchells reagent. In Twitchells reagent,

oleic acid is used as the fatty acid whereas in the present invention drying-and semi-drying oils which contain linoleic or linolenic acids are used. These acids are highly unsaturated because of the plurality of double bands which they contain. Furthermore, the present compound differs from Twitchells reagent in that in the present process a mixture of high molecular weight and low molecular weight aromatic hydrocarbons are used. And in a still further way, the present composition or compound differs from Twltc-hells reagent in that the molecular proportion of aromatic hydrocarbons is in exctelss of the molecular quantity of the oil use As an example, a mixture of parts by weight ofsunflower oil, 40 parts by weight of benzol, 40 parts by weight of xylol, and 20 parts by weight of naphthaline are sulfonated with 150 parts by weight of sulfuric acid having a specific gravity of 1.84. After 12 hours standing the mixture is washed with an aqueous solution of sodium sulphate or sodium chloride in order to eliminate the sulfuric acid and the sulfonation product thereafter washed with benzine to remove the. unacted on hydrocarbons and fatty acids.

As a further example a mixture of 50 parts by weight of xylol, 20 parts by weight of naphthaline, 20 parts by weight of para cresol and 50 parts weight of lime oil is,

sulfonated with sulfuric acid and purified as described in the preceding example. By treating the sulfonicderivatives with alkali metal hydroxides, hard soaps are obtained.

What We claim is:

1. The process of preparing a Washing compound which comprises sulfonating' a mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons and highly" unsaturated drying oils, and thereafter purifying the sulfonation product.

2; The process of preparing Washingcompounds which comprises sulfonat-ing a mixture of high and low molecular weight aromatic hydrocarbons and drying oils.

3. The process of preparing washing compounds which comprises sulfonating a mixture of high and low molecular Weight aromatic hydrocarbons and dryingoils, the molecular quantity of drying oils being less than the molecular quantity of aromatic hydrocarbons.

4. A washing compound comprising the sulfonation product of a mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons and drying OllS.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures.

GRIGORI PETROFF. PETER SHE$TAKOFE