Acylalkylisethionate esters and applications in consumer products

1. A process useful for forming an aqueous composition of matter having a mixture of alkyl-substituted hydroxyethane sulfonates comprising the steps of:

a) providing an alkylene oxide having between 3 and 8 carbon atoms per molecule;

b) providing an aqueous solution comprising bi-sulfite anions;

c) contacting the aqueous solution with the alkylene oxide while maintaining the pH at a range between about 6.0 and about 10.0,

wherein the mixture of alkyl-substituted hydroxyethane sulfonates comprises:

(i) a first anion having the structure:

wherein R 1 is a straight chain or branched C 1 to C 6 alkyl group and R 2 is hydrogen; and

(ii) a second anion having the structure:

wherein R 4 is a straight chain or branched C 1 to C 6 alkyl group and R 3 is hydrogen.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the aqueous solution of bi-sulfite ions further includes at least one ion selected from the group consisting of: sodium, potassium, lithium, magnesium, calcium, and ammonium ions.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the contacting is conducted at a temperature range of between about 20° C. to about 200° C.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the contacting is conducted at a pressure range of between about 0.5 atmospheres and about 7 atmospheres.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the bi-sulfite anions are produced by reacting sulfur dioxide with a hydroxide solution.

6. The process of claim 5 , wherein the hydroxide solution is a 50% by weight sodium hydroxide solution.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the alkylene oxide is selected from the group consisting of: propylene oxide, butylene oxide, and mixtures thereof.

8. The process of claim 7 , wherein the aqueous solution of bi-sulfite ions further includes at least one ion selected from the group consisting of: sodium, potassium, lithium, magnesium, calcium, and ammonium ions.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the pH is maintained at a range between about 7.0 and about 8.0.

10. A process for forming a powder comprising a mixture of sodium alkyl-substituted hydroxyethane sulfonates comprising the steps of:

a) providing an alkylene oxide having between 3 and 8 carbon atoms per molecule;

b) providing an aqueous solution of sodium bi-sulfite;

c) contacting the aqueous solution of sodium bi-sulfite with the alkylene oxide, while maintaining the pH at a range of between about 6.0 and 10.0 for about 1 hour to about 6 hours to form a product mixture; and

d) drying the product mixture to the powder,

wherein the mixture of sodium alkyl-substituted hydroxyethane sulfonates comprises:

(i) a first sodium alkyl-substituted hydroxyethane sulfonate having the structure:

and (ii) a second sodium alkyl-substituted hydroxyethane sulfonate having the structure:

wherein R 1 is independently selected from the group consisting of: methyl and ethyl; R 2 is hydrogen; R 3 is hydrogen; and R 4 is independently selected from the group consisting of: methyl and ethyl.

11. The process of claim 10 , wherein the contacting is conducted at a temperature range of between about 20° C. to about 200° C.

12. The process of claim 10 , wherein the contacting is conducted at a pressure range of between about 0.5 atmospheres and about 7 atmospheres.

13. The process of claim 10 , wherein the alkylene oxide is selected from the group consisting of: propylene oxide, butylene oxide, and mixtures thereof.

14. A process for producing a surfactant material useful as a component of a personal care cleansing composition which comprises:

a) providing a mixture of isethionate anions which comprises

(i) a first anion having the structure:

in which R 1 is straight chain or branched C 1 to C 6 alkyl group and R 2 is hydrogen; and

(ii) a second anion having the structure:

in which R 3 is hydrogen and R 4 is an straight chain or branched C 1 to C 6 alkyl group;

b) contacting the mixture of isethionate anions with one or more carboxylic acids of the formula:

in which R is any hydrocarbon group having between about 4 and about 25 carbon atoms, including straight-chain, branched, saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbon groups so as to form a reactive mixture; and

c) heating the reactive mixture at any temperature in the range of between 90° C. and 240° C. to produce an acyl alkylisethionate mixture containing at least two different anions which are isethionate esters of a carboxylic acid wherein the mixture of isethionate anions is formed by:

i) providing an alkylene oxide having between 3 and 8 carbon atoms per molecule;

ii) providing an aqueous solution of sodium bi-sulfite;

iii) contacting the aqueous solution of sodium bi-sulfite with the alkylene oxide, while maintaining the pH at a range of between about 6.0 and 10.0 for about 1 hour to about 6 hours to form the mixture of isethionate anions.

15. The process of claim 14 , further comprising the step applying a vacuum of about 1 mm Hg to about 200 mm Hg at a temperature of about 100° C. to about 200° C. to reduce the amount of carboxylic acid in the surfactant material to less than 10% by weight.

16. The process of claim 14 , wherein R 1 is independently selected from the group consisting of: methyl and ethyl; and R 4 is independently selected from the group consisting of: methyl and ethyl.

17. The process of claim 14 , wherein the contacting is conducted at a temperature range of between about 20° C. to about 200° C.

18. The process of claim 14 , wherein the contacting is conducted at a pressure range of between about 0.5 atmospheres and about 7 atmospheres.

19. The process of claim 14 , wherein the alkylene oxide is selected from the group consisting of: propylene oxide, butylene oxide, and mixtures thereof.