Sorbitan esters | 食品添加物合法業者資訊網

Products1-12of12—Sorbitanestersbelongtonon-ionicsurfactants.Therawmaterialfortheirproductionissorbitol,asix-hydroxysugaralcohol, ...

Sorbitan esters belong to non-ionic surfactants. The raw material for their production is sorbitol, a six-hydroxy sugar alcohol, obtained by reducing glucose. This reaction changes the aldehyde group to hydroxyl group. Sorbitol during dehydration loses one molecule of water, forming sorbitan, i.e. a mixture of cyclic ethers. It consists of 15% tetrahydropyran and 85% tetrahydrofuran. Further dehydration results in the formation of a bicyclic derivative called sorbide.

The reaction in which the sorbitan esters are obtained is carried out in two stages. The first stage is the dehydration and cyclization of sorbitol, and the second is the esterification of cyclic ethers. Most often, esterification is carried out using fatty acids such as lauric, palmitic, oleic or stearic. Due to the presence of free OH groups, the sorbitan esters may undergo an ethoxylation reaction resulting in obtaining of ethoxylated derivatives c...