Sodium Laureth Sulfate (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Sodium laureth sulfate, or sodium lauryl ether sulfate, is a detergent and surfactant found in many personal care products. SLES is an inexpensive and very effective foaming agent. Its chemical formula is CH3(CH2)10CH2(OCH2CH2)nOSO3Na. Sometimes the number represented by n is specified in the name, for example laureth-2 sulfate. The commercial product is heterogeneous in the number of ethoxyl groups, where n is the mean. It is common for commercial products for n= 3. SLES is prepared by ethoxylation of dodecyl alcohol. The resulting ethoxylate is converted to an half ester of sulfuric acid, which is neutralized by conversion to the sodium salt.