Solubilizing and Hydrotropic Properties of Isosorbide Monoalkyl‐ and Dimethyl‐Ethers

Abstract Isosorbide is a diol readily obtained from starch that can be used as a polar building block for the synthesis of derivatives ranging from solvents to surfactants: dimethyl isosorbide (DMI) is a “sustainable solvent” already on the market, used notably in cosmetic and pharmaceutical formulations; monoalkyl derivatives of isosorbide are non‐ionic hydrotropes that could be potential substitutes to short‐chain glycol ethers. The use of these isosorbide derivatives as bio‐sourced alternatives to petroleum‐derived products for applications such as compatibilizers in liquid detergent formulations or solubilizing agents in aqueous hard‐surface cleaning is discussed in this paper. DMI reveals to have interesting coupling properties for the former applications, whereas the monopentyl ether of isosorbide (C 5 Iso) is a particularly efficient hydrotrope for the latter.