Soaps Detergents

&

Shampoo
Introduction Soaps - History of Soap Manufacturing - Preparation of Soap - Structure of Soap Molecule

Detergents - Preparation of Detergents - Structure of Detergent Molecule - Cleansing of Soap & Detergent - Additives in Detergent - Effectivesness of Soaps & Detergents

Shampoo

- Preparation of Shampoo - Structure of Shampoo Molecule

INTRODUCTION
1. Cleansing agents are chemical substance used to remove grease and dirt. 2. There are two type of cleansing agents : a) Soaps b) Detergents 3. Soaps are sodium or potassium salt of fatty acids that contains 12 to 18 carbon atoms per molecule. 4. Soaps are cleansing agents made from animal fats or vegetable oil by saponification. Soap is a salt of a compound known as a fatty acid. A soap molecule consists of a long hydrocarbon chain (composed of carbons and hydrogens) with a carboxylic acid group on one end which is ionic bonded to a metal ion, usually a sodium or potassium. The hydrocarbon end is nonpolar and is soluble in nonpolar substances (such as fats and oils), and the ionic end (the salt of a carboxylic acid) is soluble in water. The structure of a soap molecule is represented below: O || CH3-CH2-CH2- CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2- CH2-CH2- CH2-CH2- CH2CH2- CH2-CH2- C-O Na+

Non-polar hydrocarbon chain ionic end. (Soluble in nonpolar substances) (Soluble in water)

Detergents are structurally similar to soaps, but differ in the water-soluble portion. Three examples of detergents are shown below.

sodium alkyl sulphate

sodium alkylbenzene sulfonate

SOAP

The History of Soap Manufacturing

1. Soap have been used for more than 3000 years. It was recorded that the Babylonians were making soaps around 2800 B.C. 2. The Purifying Oils were recorded on Hebrew tablets in 4000 B.C. 3. In ancients time, soap made from ashes of plants which contain sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate. The ashes were boiled with lime (calcium oxide) to produce caustic potash (potassium hydroxide). Caustic potash is then boiled with the animal fats to produce soap. a) Ash + Lime boiled Caustic Potash (K2CO3) (CaO) (KOH)

b) Caustic Potash + Animal Fats boiled Soap 4. In 1861, the Belgian Chemist Ernest Solvay (1838-1922) discovered the process to make soda (sodium carbonate) from common salt (sodium chloride) and calcium carbonate. 5. This process is known as the Solvay Process which produces sodium carbonate cheaply for industrial use. Sodium carbonate (often called soda or soda ash) is used for making glass, soaps and detergents. 6. Michel Chevreul (1786-1889), a French chemist, was noted for his research in the composition of animal fats is composed of fatty acids and glycerol. This discovery contributed to the rapid development of the soap and candle industry.

Preparation of soap by saponification

1. Soap is a cleansing agents produced by the reaction between sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide with animal fats or vegetable oils. This reaction is known as saponification.

2. Fats and vegetable oils are large, naturally occurring ester molecules. When fats or oils are boiled with concentrated alkalis, such as sodium hydroxide, saponification occurs and the ester molecules are broken down into soap and glycerol. Fats or vegetable oils + concentrated alkalis soap +glycerol 3. Saponification is the alkaline hydrolysis of ester using alkali solutions. From the chemist aspect, soaps are sodium salts or potassium salts of long chain carboxylic acids (with 12 to 18 carbon atoms per molecule). 4. Some examples of soaps are shown below.

a) Sodium palmitate, C15H31COONa b) Sodium oleate, C17H33COONa c) Sodium stearate, C17H35COONa

Additives such as perfume, colouring matter and sometimes antiseptics are added to soaps to enhance their marketability.

5. Glyceryl tristearates are naturally occurring esters commonly found in animal

fats and vegetable oils. When the ester is boiled with concentrated sodium hydroxide solution, saponification (alkaline hydrolysis) occurs and mixture of sodium stearate (soap) and glycerol is obtained.

CH2COOC17H35 CHCOOC17H35 (heating) CH2COOC17H35 Glyceryl tristearate 3C17H35COONa

CH2OH

3NaOH CHOH

CH2OH

Sodium stearate (soap) Glycerol

6. The soap produced can be precipitated by adding common salt (sodium

chloride)

to the reaction mixture. 7. The sodium chloride added reduced the solubility of soap in water. As a result, precipitation of soap occurs. 8. The properties of soap depend on : a) The type of alkali used for saponification

b) The type of animal fats or vegetable oils used. 9. Soaps produced from sodium hydroxide are hard, whereas soaps produced from potassium hydroxide are soft. 10. Animal fats (tallow) from cows and vegetable oils (such as palm oil or olive oil) ae used for making soap.

The structure of soap molecule

1. When soap is dissolved in water, it will dissociate and produce sodium ions
and carboxylate ions (RCOO-). For example, sodium stearate dissolves in water to form sodium ions and stearate ions. C17H35COONa (s) + water C17H35COO- (aq) sodium stearate stearate ions + Na The stearate ion consist of two parts : the head and the tail. The head id negatively charged and the tail is a long hydrocarbon chain.
+

(aq)

2. The active substance in soap is the carboxylate ion, for example, stearate ion.

3. The head contains the -C-O- ions which dissolves readily in water
(hydrophilic) but does not dissolve in oil. Conversely, the tail contains a long hydrocarbon chain which is insoluble in water (hydrophobic) but dissolves readily in oil. 4. Soaps made from palmitic acid are known as sodium palmitate. Figure 5.2 shows the structure of the palmitate ion in soaps.

5. The figure 5.3 9a) shows the molecular model of palmitate ion and Figure 5.3 (b) shows the simple representation of the structure of the palmitate ion.

(a) The molecular model of the palmitate ion. (b) The diagrammatic representation of the soap ion.

DETERGENTS
1. Detergents are synthetic cleansing agents made from hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum fractions. Thus, detergents are petrochemicals.

2. Detergents can be classified into three main types, depending on the charge on the detergent ion. a) Anionic detergents where the head of the detergent particle contains a negatively charged ion. Example: R O SO3 -Na+ (Sodium alkyl sulphate) b) Cationic detergents where the head of the detergent particle contains a positively charged ion. Example: R N (CH3)3 +BRc) Non ionic detergents Example: R O CH2CH2OH
Positively charged ion Negatively charged ion

3. There are two types of anionic detergents : a) Detergent molecule with a benzene ring such as sodium alkylbenzene sulphonate.

Where R represents a long hydrocarbon chain. We can represent the detergent ion, alkylbenzene sulphonate ion, more simply as :

b) Detergent molecule without a benzene ring such as sodium alkyl sulphate. We can represent the detergent ion, alkyl sulphate ion as:

R OSO3