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
  • C11D3/0005—Other compounding ingredients characterised by their effect
  • C11D3/0063—Photo- activating compounds
• • 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
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06L—DRY-CLEANING, WASHING OR BLEACHING FIBRES, FILAMENTS, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR MADE-UP FIBROUS GOODS; BLEACHING LEATHER OR FURS
  • D06L4/00—Bleaching fibres, filaments, threads, yarns, fabrics, feathers or made-up fibrous goods; Bleaching leather or furs
  • D06L4/60—Optical bleaching or brightening
  • D06L4/671—Optical brightening assistants, e.g. enhancers or boosters

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a composition suitable for the treatment of textiles, especially a laundry detergent composition, comprising a compatible photo-bleaching component and a fluorescent whitening component.
• Detergent manufactures make use of this consumer habit to give benefits to recently laundered garments by incorporating technologies, such as photo-bleach and fluorescent whitening agents into their laundry detergent products; for example, to provide post-wash bleaching benefits and fabric whitening benefits.
• Detergent manufactures have formulated laundry detergents comprising both photo-bleach and fluorescent whitening agents; for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,605 relates to compositions comprising photo-bleach and fluorescent whitening agents, which allegedly results in a synergistic bleaching and whitening effect.
• Photo-bleach is capable of absorbing light in the visible wavelength band to form an intermediate energetically excited photo-bleach, which is capable of activating molecular oxygen from its triplet oxygen electronic energy state to its singlet oxygen electronic energy state.
• Singlet oxygen is a potent bleach that is capable of oxidising a vast array of substrates, including many soils typically encountered and cleaned in laundering processes.
• Fluorescent whitening agents are capable of absorbing light in the ultraviolet wavelength band and re-emitting light in the visible wavelength band. Typically, light in the blue region of the visible wavelength band is re-emitted, giving the recently laundered garments a consumer preferred bluish hue. This bluish hue is especially preferred when the laundered garments are white in colour and comprise natural cotton as the bluish hue masks the yellowness of the natural cotton fibres.
• the Inventors have surprisingly identified that there is a compatibility issue with photo-bleach and fluorescent whitening agents when present in the same detergent formulation, and that the combination of these two components in the laundry detergent composition does not always give both an effective photo-bleaching benefit and an effective whitening benefit. Indeed the Inventors have surprisingly found that there is a tendency of the fluorescent whitening agent to diminute the performance of the photo-bleach. Without wishing to be bound by theory, the Inventors believe that the fluorescent whitening agent competes with molecular oxygen for the energy released by the excited triplet state of the photo-bleach (which is the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component), thus diminishing formation of singlet oxygen and its subsequent bleaching effect.
• the Inventors have surprisingly overcome this incompatibility problem by ensuring that, when the photo-bleach is formulated with a fluorescent whitening agent, the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component has a prolonged lifetime. This is achieved by careful selection of the photo-bleach and fluorescent whitening agent to be formulated together in the same laundry detergent composition.
• the present invention provides a composition suitable for the treatment of textiles, comprising a photo-bleaching component and a fluorescent whitening component, wherein the photo-bleaching component is capable of absorbing light to form an intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component, the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component is capable of activating molecular oxygen from its triplet oxygen electronic energy state to its singlet oxygen electronic energy state, characterised in that the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component has a lifetime of greater than 50 microseconds.
• the composition is suitable for the treatment of textiles.
• the composition is a laundry detergent composition.
• the composition can be in particulate form or in liquid form.
• the composition is in particulate form, for example in the form of an agglomerate, a spray-dried powder, an extrudate, a flake, or any combination thereof.
• the composition may also be in tablet form or other unit dose form such as a pouch.
• the composition may be at least partially enclosed, or preferably completely enclosed, by a water-soluble film such as film comprising polyvinyl alcohol.
• the composition is a granular laundry detergent composition.
• the composition comprises a photo-bleaching component, which is described in more detail below.
• the composition also comprises a fluorescent whitening component, which is described in more detail below.
• the composition may also comprise additional adjunct components, which are described in more detail below.
• the composition is a laundry detergent composition comprising a photo-bleaching component, a fluorescent whitening component, a detersive surfactant, a builder, optionally bleach and optionally other adjunct detergent components.
• the photo-bleaching component is capable of absorbing light to form an intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component.
• the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component is capable of activating molecular oxygen from its triplet oxygen electronic state to its singlet oxygen electronic energy state.
• the molecular oxygen in its singlet oxygen electronic energy state is capable of oxidising a vast array of substrates by a variety of mechanisms including ene reactions and cyclo-addition reactions.
• An example of an ene reaction is given below:
• an intermediate photo-bleaching component P (S) typically in its singlet excited state.
• the intermediate photo-bleaching component P (S) must undergo intersystem crossing (ISC) to form an intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component P (T), typically in its triplet excited state, in order to interact with ground state oxygen. Intersystem crossing generally proceeds with good efficiency.
• ISC intersystem crossing
• molecular oxygen in its triplet oxygen electronic energy state
• the molecular oxygen in its singlet oxygen electronic state is reactive with a range of substrates, as described above in more detail.
• the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component has a lifetime of greater than 50 microseconds, preferably greater than 100 microseconds, more preferably greater than 200 microseconds, and most preferably greater than 300 microseconds.
• the lifetime of the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component is described in more detail below.
• the lifetime of the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component is the lifetime of the above component when in the presence of the fluorescent whitening component.
• the photo-bleaching component is a sulphonated phthalocyanine having an average degree of sulphonation of from greater than 3.0 to less than 4.0, preferably from 3.8 to less than 4.0, the sulphonated phthalocyanine being complexed with a metal cation.
• the sulphonated phthalocyanine is not substituted with a halide group.
• the photo-bleaching agent is a sulphonated zinc phthalocyanine having an average degree of sulphonation of from greater than 3.0 to less than 4.0, preferably 3.8 to less than 4.0.
• the photo-bleaching component may be a sulphonated tin phthalocyanine, a sulphonated tin naphthalocyanine or a mixture thereof.
• the photo-bleaching component may be a sulphonated zinc naphthalocyanine, a sulphonated aluminium naphthalocyanine, a sulphonated tin naphthalocyanine or any mixture thereof.
• the photo-bleaching component may preferably be a mixture of a sulphonated zinc phthalocyanine and a sulphonated aluminium phthalocyanine, wherein the molar ratio of the sulphonated zinc phthalocyanine to sulphonated aluminum phthalocyanine is less than 3:1, preferably less than 2:1.
• photo-bleaching components that may be suitable for use in the present invention are those described in more detail by A. D. Willey in Powdered Detergents, ed. M. Showell, Surfactant Series Vol 71, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1998, p185-203.
• the photo-bleaching component may be encapsulated.
• Suitable encapsulating materials are described in more detail in WO03/018738 and WO03/18740.
• a preferred encapsulating material is starch.
• Fluorescent whitening components are typically capable of absorbing light in the ultraviolet wavelength band and re-emitting light in the visible band. Typically light in the blue region of the visible wavelength band is re-emitted, giving recently treated fabris a consumer preferred bluish hue.
• the fluorescent whitening component is a substituted stilbenesulphonic acid or a salt thereof that is substituted by at least one triazol-2-yl moiety.
• the fluorescent whitening component is a molecule having the general formula:
• the fluorescent whitening component is a molecule having the general formula:
• Another brightener than may be suitable for use in the present invention is Sodium dibenzobiphenyldisulfonate.
• the Inventors have surprisingly found that good compatibility between the photo-bleaching component and the fluorescent whitening component is achievable by ensuring that the lifetime of the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component (when in the presence of the fluorescent whitening component) is at least 50 microseconds, preferably at least 100 microseconds, more preferably at least 200 microseconds and most preferably at least 300 microseconds. This can be achieved, for example, by careful selection of fluorescent whitening components and photo-bleaching components to be used in combination with each other.
• the lifetime of the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component (when in the presence of the fluorescent whitening component) is very short.
• the lifetime of the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component of a sulphonated zinc phthalocyanine photo-bleaching component when used in combination with a disodium 4,4′-bis-(2-sulphostyryl)biphenyl fluorescent whitening component is 3 microseconds.
• the lifetime of the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component of a sulphonated zinc phthalocyanine photo-bleaching component when used in combination with a disodium-4,4′-bis[(4-anilino-6-morpholino-s-triazin-2-yl)-amino]-2,2′-stilbenedisulfonate, is 4 microseconds.
• the lifetime of the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component of a sulphonated zinc phthalocyanine photo-bleaching component when used in combination with a disodium-4,4′-bis[(4,6-dianilino-s-triazin-2-yl)-amino]-2,2′-stilbenedisulfonate, is 4 microseconds. All of these combinations give very poor photo-bleaching performance, especially in laundry cleaning applications. These combinations having a low lifetime for the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component, are all outside of the claim-scope and are not in accordance with the present invention.
• This careful selection of photo-bleaching component and fluorescent whitening component is far greater than lifetime compared to the former above described combinations that have lifetimes of only 3, 4 and 8 microseconds, respectively.
• the lifetime of the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component is typically determined using flash photolysis, for example by using a Nd-YAG laser (Lumonics Ltd) as the excitation source, a 250 W xenon arc lamp (Applied Photophysics Ltd) as the analyzing source and a R928 photomultiplier (Hanamatsu Ltd) as the detector.
• flash photolysis for example by using a Nd-YAG laser (Lumonics Ltd) as the excitation source, a 250 W xenon arc lamp (Applied Photophysics Ltd) as the analyzing source and a R928 photomultiplier (Hanamatsu Ltd) as the detector.
• One suitable flash photolysis method that can be used to determine the lifetime of the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component is described in more detail by C. Willsher, Journal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists, 1988, Vol 104, p472-476.
• the skilled person in light of the disclosure of the present invention, can calculate the lifetime of the intermediate energetically excited photo-bleaching component in the presence of a particular fluorescent whitening component with no undue burden, and the skilled person can select combinations of a photo-bleaching component and a fluorescent whitening component, having good photo-bleaching performance and whitening benefits that are in accordance with the present invention.
• the composition may optionally comprise one or more adjunct detergent components.
• adjunct detergent components are typically selected from the group consisting of detersive surfactants, builders, polymeric co-builders, bleach, chelants, enzymes, anti-redeposition polymers, soil-release polymers, polymeric soil-dispersing and/or soil-suspending agents, dye-transfer inhibitors, fabric-integrity agents, suds suppressors, fabric-softeners, flocculants, perfumes and combinations thereof.
• Suitable adjunct components are described in more detail in WO97/11151, especially from page 15, line 31 to page 27, line 27, and from page 28, line 5 to page 56, line 24, and from page 48, line 2 to page 50, line 4.
• the following granular laundry detergent compositions A-F having a bulk density of from 440 g/l to 580 g/l, are in accordance with the present invention.
• Fluorescent whitening 0.05 0.2 0.05 0.05 component that is a sodium 4-[2H- naphtho[1,2-d]triazol-2- yl]stilbene-2-sulfonate, supplied by Ciba under the tradename Tinopal RBS Fluorescent whitening 0.05 0.1 0.12 component that is a sulfonated, methylated dibenzofuran biphenyl (CAS 133-057-91-7), supplied by Ciba-Geigy under the tradename Tinopal PLC Amylase 0.2 0.1 0.3 Cellulase 0.2 0.2 0.1 Protease 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.1 Perfume 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.25 0.3 Moisture and to to to to to to miscellaneous 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Detergent Compositions (AREA)
• Treatments For Attaching Organic Compounds To Fibrous Goods (AREA)

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Citations (9)

• 2004
  • 2004-07-30 WO PCT/US2004/024614 patent/WO2005017082A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2004-07-30 CN CNA2004800225476A patent/CN1833019A/zh active Pending
  • 2004-07-30 JP JP2006522091A patent/JP2007500269A/ja not_active Withdrawn
  • 2004-07-30 EP EP04779618A patent/EP1651744A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2004-07-30 MX MXPA06001406A patent/MXPA06001406A/es unknown
  • 2004-08-05 US US10/911,905 patent/US20050028294A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2004-08-09 AR ARP040102835A patent/AR045357A1/es not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (9)

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