Dodecylbenzene is an organic compound with the formula . Dodecylbenzene is a colorless liquid with a weak odor and floats on water.
This colorless waxy solid consists of a dodecyl group () attached to a phenyl group (). Dodecylbenzene is a precursor to sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, a surfactant that is a key ingredient of household laundry detergents, such as detergent powder.[Kurt Kosswig,"Surfactants" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, 2005, Weinheim. ]
Production
This compound and some related
alkylbenzenes are produced industrially by
alkylation of
benzene with the corresponding
Alkene in the presence of hydrogen fluoride or related acid catalysts. The resulting linear alkylbenzene compounds are
sulfonation to give the corresponding
. This sulfonation can be highly specific to place the sulfonic acid group across the ring, in the 4-position. The resulting sulfonic acid is then neutralized with base to give sodium alkylbenzenesulfonate, which is subsequently blended with other components to produce cleaning products.
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