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. Altho ...

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 (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 g ...

) esterified with fatty acids. 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 (polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monolaurate) * Polysorbate 40 (polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monopalmitate) * Polysorbate 60 (polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monostearate) * Polysorbate 80 (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