Talk:Ethoxylation

Merger of alcohol ethoxylate and ethoxylation

For readers trying to understand this technology, the merger of these two very similar articles would be helpful and even logical. Most ethoxylation targets the production of alcohol ethoxylates. Both articles should deal with virtually the same subjects. In Wikipedia, phenols and alcohols are treated usually together since we are appealing to a fairly general audience. So my suggestion is a main article on ethoxylation, with subsections of various classes of ethoxylated products then a family of articles on ethoxylated compounds, such as nonoxynols. --Smokefoot (talk) 00:47, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

Confusion with alkoxylation

Some surfactants are described as ethoxylates, others as alkoxylates, and some as being both. For example, DeForest Enterprises lists some of their surfactants in the separate categories: alkoxylated alcohols and ethoxylated alcohols. And Uniquema manufactures (among other types of surfactants) some that they categorize as either fatty acid alkoxylates or fatty alcohol ethoxylates. Conversely, BASF seems to apply the terms ethoxylate and alkoxylate synonomously: "The Macol® Lauryl Alcohol Ethoxylates are offered in a wide range of solubilities. Generally 1 to 8 mole alkoxylates are oil soluble and the 9 mole and greater alkoxylates become more water soluble." And Dow Chemical has several categories of ethoxylates, but their one category 'specialty alkoxylates' includes surfactant Triton N-57, which is described to be an ethoxylate. Tomah Products has a category of surfactants named alcohol ethoxylates, but no product in that category is described as ethoxylated; only as alkoxylated. Is it that all alkoxylates are ethoxylates, but not all ethoxylates are alkoxylates? Could somebody please include a clarification of this confusing terminology in the article, and if some companies are using the terms inaccurately/improperly/inconsistently, then this should be mentioned in the article.--Zymatik 19:58, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

It's the other way round - all ethoxylates are alkoxylates, but not all alkoxylates are ethoxylates. Ethoxylation refers to the addition of ethylene oxide. Alkoxylation refers to the addition of any alkylene oxide (or alkyloxirane if you want it in IUPAC)and is used as a generic term.77.158.7.89 (talk) 14:57, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

Good point, some of these concerns are addressed with a new article alkoxylation. --Smokefoot (talk) 16:37, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

My understanding of all this is shaped by surfactant chemistry, which I have some experience with. In that field ethoxylation dominates. The reason is that polyethylene glycol is very water soluble and adding it to the fatty tails makes them amphiphilic. Other alkoxylates don't give you that; polypropylene glycol has only 1 more carbon per monomer but the result is poorly water soluble at best. As mentioned in the article you do sometimes see mixed alkoxylation (almost always EO/PO) but these compounds are somewhat specialised. Basically SLES, SDS and LAS are the primary surfactants in almost anything you'd think of as soap. --Project Osprey (talk) 23:58, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

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Incorrect characterization of a reference

The reference currently denoted as reference 20, (http://www.aciscience.org/docs/Draft_SIDS_Long_Chain_Alcohols_1.pdf), is incorrectly characterized as referring to alkoxylated alcohols, when it is actually referring to long-chain aliphatic alcohols and does not make any mention of alkoxylation or ethoxylation. Dljazz (talk) 22:50, 24 July 2017 (UTC)