THE SCIENCE OF SOAPS AND DETERGENTS （肥皂和洗涤剂的科学）.pdf

THE SCIENCE OF SOAPS AND DETERGENTS ©2000 by David A. Katz. All rights reserved Reproduction permitted for educational purposes as long as the original copyright is included. INTRODUCTION A 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 || CH − + -CH -CH - CH -CH -CH -CH - CH -CH - CH -CH - CH -CH - CH -CH - C-O Na 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 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. a sodium alkyl sulfate a sodium alkylbenzene sulfonate