Soaps and Detergents

What is soap?

 Soaps are sodium or potassium salts of long-

chain fatty acids.
 Fatty acid = Long chain of carboxylic acids

 General formula : RCOONa or RCOOK

 Where R : Alkyl group containing 12 or 18 carbon
atoms.
The history of soap manufacturing

 In the past, soap was made by mixing

animal fats with alkaline wood ashes.

 Large-scale commercial soap making

occurred when Nicholas Leblanc patented a
process for making soda ash.
 Soda ash is the alkali obtained from ashes that
combines with fat to form soap.
Soap preparation process =
Saponification
 Soaps are prepared by hydrolising fats or oils
under alkaline condition to produce glycerol
(an alcohol) and soap.

 Sources of :
 Fat – Cows and goats.
 Oils – Palm oil, olive oil, coconut oil

 Strong alkali : (Concentrated) NaOH or KOH

Saponification process

 Fats and oils are hydrolyzed (split) with a high-

pressure steam to yield crude fatty acids and glycerol.

 The fatty acids are then purified by distillation and

neutralized with an alkali to produce soap and water
(neat soap-soap in liquid form).
Saponification process

 Fatty acid + NaOH → water+ Sodium soap

 Sodium soaps are "hard" soaps.
 The more saturated the oil (tropical vegetable oils
such as coconut oil), the harder the soap.

 Fatty acid + KOH → water + Potassium soap

 Potassium soaps are softer and are found in some
liquid hand soaps and shaving creams.
What is detergent?

 Detergents are cleaning agents that is not a

soap.

 Made from synthetic resources such as

petroleum fraction.

 Developed during the WW2 in response to a

shortage of animals fats and vegetable oils.
Preparation of detergent :
1) Sodium alkyl
sulphate
 Formation of organic acid

 A) Sulphonation
 Long chain + Conc. → Alkyl sulphonic + H2O
Alcohol H2SO4 acid
 B)Neutralisation
 Alkyl sulphonic + NaOH → Sodium alkyl + H2O
acid sulphate
Preparation of detergent :
2) Sodium alkylbenzene
sulphonate
Formation of alkyl benzene
 A) Alkylation
AlCl3
 Long chain + Benzene Alkylbenzene
Alkene
 B) Sulphonation
 Alkylbenzene + Conc. → Alkylbenzene + H2O
H2SO4 sulphonic acid
Preparation of detergent :
2) Sodium alkylbenzene sulphonate

 C) Neutralisation
 Alkylbenzene + NaOH → Sodium + H2O
sulphonic acid alkylbenzene
sulphonate
Soap manufacturing

 Soap bar
 Powder detergent

 Liquid detergent
Cleansing action of soap and detergents
 Soaps and detergents
 Lower the surface tension of water
 To emulsify (dispersing in water) oil or grease
 To hold oil and grease in suspension in water

 In water, sodium soap dissolves :

RCOONa → RCOO- + Na+
(soap anion)

 In water, detergent dissolves :

ROSO3Na → ROSO3- + Na+
(detergent anion
=alkyl sulphate ion)

R OSO3Na → R OSO3- + Na+

(detergent anion
=alkylbenzene sulphonate ion)
Soap anion

_
(Hydrophobic) COO
= Hate
water (Hydrophilic)
= Love

Detergent anion – Alkyl sulphate ion water

O
_
(Hydrophobic) O-S-O
= Hate
water
O
Cleansing action of soap and detergents

1) The hydrophobic part of the 4) Mechanical agitation 5) The droplets do not

soap is soluble in the grease. during scrubbing
2) The hydrophilic part is
soluble in water.
3) Soap reduces the surface
tension of water thus the
surface of the cloth is wetted
thoroughly
coagulate due to the
helps to pull the repulsion between the
grease free and negative charges on
break the grease into their surface.
small droplets.
6) The droplets are
suspended in water,
forming an emulsion.
7) Rinsing washes away
the droplets.
 Effectiveness of the cleansing action of
soap
 Effectiveness of cleansing action of soap is reduced in:
1) Hard water
 Hard water contains a great amount of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions.

 Ca2+/ Mg2+ + soap → soap scum

 2CH (CH ) COO-Na+ + Ca2+ → [CH (CH ) COO] Ca

(s) + 2Na
+
3 2 16 3 2 16 2

2) Acidic water
 H+ ion + soap → Long-chain fatty acid

(Insoluble in water = reduces the amount

of soap)
 CH (CH ) COO-Na+ + H+ → CH (CH ) COOH + Na+
3 2 16 3 2 16 (s)
Soap scum

 It reduces the amount of soap available for cleaning.

 It does not rinse away easily.
 It forms deposits on clothes  become grey or yellow.
 It attaches to the insides of bathtubs, sinks and washing
machines.
 Effectiveness of the cleansing action of
detergent
 Detergent do not form scum with hard water.
 They form soluble substances with Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions.
 2CH3(CH2)11OSO3-Na+ + Ca2+ →
[CH3(CH2)11OSO3-]2Ca2+ + 2Na+

 Detergent do not form precipitates in acidic water.

 CH3(CH2)11OSO3-Na+ + H+ →
CH3(CH2)11OSO3-H+ + Na+
Additives in detergent – To enhance its
cleaning
efficiency
Additive Example Function
Biological enzyme amylases, proteases, To remove protein
lipases stains such as blood
Whitening agent Sodium perborate To convert stains into
colourless substances
Optical whitener Fluorescent dyes To add brightness and
whiteness to white
fabrics
Builder Sodium To enhance the
tripolyphosphate cleaning efficiency of
detergent by softening
the water
Additives in detergent – To enhance its cleaning efficiency

Additive Example Function

Suspension agent Carboxymethylcellulose To prevent the dirt
particles removed from
redepositing onto
cleaned fabrics.
Filler Sodium sulphate, To add to the bulk of the
sodium silicate detergent and enable it
to be poured easily
Foam control Silicones To control foaming in
agent detergent
Fragrance to add fragrance to both
the detergent and
fabrics
 Advantages and disadvantages of detergents
with respect to soaps
Soap Detergent

Soaps are effective cleaners in soft Detergents are effective cleaners in both
water. hard and soft water.
Soaps form scum in hard water. Detergents do not form scum in hard
water.
Soaps are made from natural Detergents are made from synthetic
resources – animal fats and resources such as petroleum fractions.
vegetable oils.
Soaps form precipitate in acidic Detergents do not form precipitate in
water. acidic water.
Soaps are biodegradable and do not Non-biodegradable detergents give thick
cause pollution. foams that kill aquatic lives.