New Heavy Arylalkyl Sulfonates
(US Patent Number 6,043,391, foreign patents issued and pending)

Oil Chem Technologies has developed a new series of anionic surfactants that can be used to replace conventional alkylaryl sulfonates and heavy alkylaryl sulfonates. These new anionic surfactants offer the advantage of improved solubility, lower CMCs, lower irritation and superior wetting.

They are made by a patented process, directly from olefins and aromatics without the need of going through an alkylation process to form heavy alkylate prior to sulfonation. This allows for a wide variety of molecular weights to be produced using thin film sulfonation technology. Since these materials are first intent products, they can be manufactured in large quantities and to molecular weights required for specific applications especially where large quantities are required such as enhanced oil recovery, metal treating, and detergents.

These products have been found to be more tolerant to high concentrations of electrolytes and divalent cations and since they are sulfonates they have excellent high temperature stability. In contrast to traditional heavy alkylaryl sulfonates, these new heavy arylalkyl sulfonates are completely soluble in both aqueous and non-aqueous solvents.

Below are the general structures for light and heavy arylalkyl sulfonates derived from olefins and xylene. Other surfactants are made from various aromatics such as benzene, toluene, naphthalene, alkylnaphthalenes, phenol, alkylphenols, alkoxylated phenols and alkoxylated alkylphenols. Molecular weights from about 300 to over 1000 can be manufactured from readily available raw materials in large quantities and at low cost.