Polysorbates are a class of

emulsifier An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Although ...

s used in some pharmaceuticals and food preparation. They are commonly used in oral and topical pharmaceutical dosage forms. They are also often used in cosmetics to solubilize

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...

s into water-based products. Polysorbates are oily liquids derived from

ethoxylated Ethoxylation is a chemical reaction in which ethylene oxide adds to a substrate. It is the most widely practiced alkoxylation, which involves the addition of epoxides to substrates. In the usual application, alcohols and phenols are converted in ...

sorbitan Sorbitan is a mixture of isomeric organic compounds derived from the dehydration of sorbitol and is an intermediate in the conversion of sorbitol to isosorbide. Sorbitan is primarily used in the production of surfactants such as polysorbates; whi ...

(a derivative of

sorbitol Sorbitol (), less commonly known as glucitol (), is a sugar alcohol with a sweet taste which the human body metabolizes slowly. It can be obtained by reduction of glucose, which changes the converted aldehyde group (−CHO) to a primary alcohol ...

)

ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides are f ...

ified with

fatty acid In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, fr ...

s. Common brand names for polysorbates include Kolliphor, Scattics, Alkest, Canarcel, and Tween.Hubert Schiweck, Albert Bär, Roland Vogel, Eugen Schwarz, Markwart Kunz, Cécile Dusautois, Alexandre Clement, Caterine Lefranc, Bernd Lüssem, Matthias Moser, Siegfried Peters "Sugar Alcohols" Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2012, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim.

Examples

Polysorbate 20 Polysorbate 20 (common commercial brand names include Kolliphor PS 20, Scattics, Alkest TW 20, Tween 20, and Kotilen-20) is a polysorbate-type nonionic surfactant formed by the ethoxylation of sorbitan monolaurate. Its stability and relative no ...

(polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monolaurate) * Polysorbate 40 (polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monopalmitate) * Polysorbate 60 (polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monostearate) *

Polysorbate 80 Polysorbate 80 is a nonionic surfactant and emulsifier often used in pharmaceuticals, foods, and cosmetics. This synthetic compound is a viscous, water-soluble yellow liquid. Chemistry Polysorbate 80 is derived from polyethoxylated sorbitan an ...

(polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate) The number following the 'polysorbate' part is related to the type of major fatty acid associated with the molecule. Monolaurate is indicated by 20, monopalmitate is indicated by 40, monostearate by 60, and monooleate by 80. The number 20 following the 'polyoxyethylene' part refers to the total number of oxyethylene (–CH₂CH₂O–) groups found in the molecule.

References

External links

NIH PEG-60 (Polysorbate 60)
Household Products Database {{organic-chemistry-stub Non-ionic surfactants Food additives Colloidal chemistry E-number additives

Examples

See also

References

External links