Abstract
The detergency performance of sodium and various alkylamine salts of spiculisporic acid (4, 5-dicarboxy-4-pentadecanolide; S-acid) and the corresponding open-ring acid of analogous compound (3-hydroxy-1, 3, 4-tetradecanetricarboxylic acid; O-acid) were studied for a comparison with those of commercially available synthetic detergents such as sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, hexaethyleneglycol monodecyl ether, and sodium laurate.
The di-meutralized n-hexylamine salts of S-acid and O-acid were found to have the highest ability for soil removal. This parameter of monosodium salt of S-acid exceeded that of disodium salt and was essentially the same as those of synthetic detergents.
Soil removal ability of the detergent was shown to be closely correlated to interfacial tension at oil-water interface. The detergent having lower interfacial tension showed better detergency performance.
