Ammonium Lauroyl Sarcosinate is a chemical compound primarily used as a surfactant in personal care products such as shampoos, body washes, and facial cleansers.
The name describes the structure of the molecule:
- Ammonium indicates the presence of ammonium, a cation derived from ammonia. In the context of surfactants, ammonium is used to form salts with organic compounds.
- Lauroyl refers to the fatty acid derived from lauric acid. This indicates that the compound is a derivative of lauric fatty acid, commonly found in natural sources like coconut oil and palm kernel oil.
- Sarcosinate refers to sarcosinate, a functional group derived from sarcosine, an amino acid. Sarcosinates are known for their gentle cleansing and foaming properties.
Raw Materials Used in the Production of Ammonium Lauroyl Sarcosinate and Their Functions
Origin. Derived from fatty acids of coconut or palm oil.
Functions of Raw Materials:
Coconut/Palm Fatty Acids provide the lipid base, essential for surfactant formation.
Sarcosine. A derivative of a natural amino acid, contributes to foam formation and gentleness of the product.
Ammonium. Used to neutralize and stabilize the formula, turning the mixture into a usable salt in skin and hair care products.
Industrial Production Process
- Extraction. Fatty acids are extracted from coconut or palm oil.
- Reaction. The fatty acids are then combined with sarcosine to form sarcosinate.
- Neutralization. The compound is neutralized with ammonium to form Ammonium Lauroyl Sarcosinate.
- Purification. The final product is purified to remove any impurities and optimize quality.
- Quality Control. Ammonium Lauroyl Sarcosinate undergoes quality testing to ensure purity, efficacy, and safety.
Form and Color
Ammonium Lauroyl Sarcosinate typically appears as a viscous, transparent or slightly yellow liquid.
What it is for and where
Ammonium Lauroyl Sarcosinate is used as a surfactant in personal care products for its effective yet gentle cleansing properties. It is valued for its ability to produce foam and for being less irritating compared to other more aggressive surfactants, making it suitable for products intended for sensitive skin.
Cosmetics - INCI Functions
Antistatic agent. Static electricity build-up has a direct influence on products and causes electrostatic adsorption. The antistatic ingredient reduces static build-up and surface resistivity on the surface of the skin and hair.
Cleansing agent. Ingredient that cleanses skin without exploiting the surface-active properties that produce a lowering of the surface tension of the stratum corneum.
Foaming. Its function is to introduce gas bubbles into the water for a purely aesthetic factor, which does not affect the cleaning process, but only satisfies the commercial aspect of the detergent by helping to spread the detergent. This helps in the commercial success of a cleansing formulation. Since sebum has an inhibiting action on the bubble, more foam is produced in the second shampoo. In practice, it creates many small bubbles of air or other gases within a small volume of liquid, changing the surface tension of the liquid.
Hair conditioning agent. A significant number of ingredients with specific and targeted purposes may co-exist in hair shampoo formulations: cleansers, conditioners, thickeners, matting agents, sequestering agents, fragrances, preservatives, special additives. However, the indispensable ingredients are the cleansers and conditioners as they are necessary and sufficient for hair cleansing and manageability. The others act as commercial and non-essential auxiliaries such as: appearance, fragrance, colouring, etc. Hair conditioning agents have the task of increasing shine, manageability and volume, and reducing static electricity, especially after treatments such as colouring, ironing, waving, drying and brushing. They are, in practice, dispersants that may contain cationic surfactants, thickeners, emollients, polymers. The typology of hair conditioning agents includes: intensive conditioners, instant conditioners, thickening conditioners, drying conditioners. They can perform their task generally accompanied by other different ingredients.
Surfactant - Cleansing agent. Cosmetic products used to cleanse the skin utilise the surface-active action that produces a lowering of the surface tension of the stratum corneum, facilitating the removal of dirt and impurities.
Safety
In general, according to a 2001 study, sarcosinates are not irritants and do not sensitize animal or human skin, although they may enhance the penetration of other ingredients through the skin. Therefore, care should be taken when formulating cosmetic products that contain these ingredients in combination with other ingredients. Available data are insufficient to support the safety of acylsarcosines and sarcosinates as cosmetic ingredients in products where they are likely to be inhaled (1).
A more updated study from 2021 finds that these ingredients are safe as used in cosmetics when formulated to be non-irritant, but they should not be used in cosmetic products in which N-nitrous compounds may be formed (2).
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Molecular Formula C15H32N2O3
Molecular Weight 288.43 g/mol
CAS 68003-46-3
UNII 4H5TH819M4
EC Number 268-130-2
DTXSID7070975
