Alcohols, Higher Aliphatic, Survey and Natural Alcohols Manufacture

Abstract The monohydric aliphatic alcohols of six or more carbon atoms are generally referred to as higher alcohols. Historically, the higher alcohols were derived from natural fats, oils, and waxes and were called fatty alcohols, but now similar alcohols are widely available from synthetic processes using petrochemical feedstocks. Although the natural and synthetic alcohols are used interchangeably for many applications, for some applications the distinction still remains. The detergent range alcohols are used mainly as sulfate, ethoxy, and ethoxysulfate derivatives in a wide variety of detergent and surfactant applications. Most higher alcohols of commercial importance are primary alcohols; secondary alcohols have more limited specialty uses. Typical reactions of the higher alcohols include esterification, sulfation, etherification, halogenation, dehydration, oxidation, and amination. In the United States, most detergent range alcohol production is by synthetic processes. Most manufacturers sell a portion of their alcohol product on the merchant market, retaining a portion for internal use, typically for the manufacture of plasticizers. The higher alcohols are among the less toxic of commonly used chemicals. Fatty alcohols are produced by hydrogenolysis of methyl esters or fatty acids in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst. There are three principal hydrogenolysis processes in worldwide use. Each process typically uses a copper chromite or copper‐zinc catalyst that is modified to meet the needs of the individual producer. The detergent range alcohols and their derivatives have a wide variety of uses in consumer and industrial products. The major use is as surfactants in detergents and cleaning products. They also are used extensively in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The plasticizer range alcohols are utilized primarily in plasticizers, but they also have a wide range of other uses.