Procter and Gamble Chemicals

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P&G Chemicals (PGC) is a division within Procter and Gamble that specializes in the production and distribution of oleochemicals throughout the world. [1]

With a line of products including glycerine, methyl esters, alcohols, fatty alcohols, and sucrose polyesters such as Sefose and Olean, PGC produces raw materials essential for many commonly used consumer products, and is a global supplier for some of the world’s largest chemical companies.

History of PGC

Over the years, P&G's business has been built on the use, production, and sale of oleochemicals. P&G has a long history of investments in the oleochemicals business and has adopted numerous changes within the company and leveraged those changes for the markets they serve. P&G Chemicals (PGC) emerged as a division within greater P&G to carry on the original business functions of the company. From its early days in the 1800s to the present day, PGC has taken a comprehensive approach to the oleochemicals business, thus ensuring supply dependability, reliable expertise, and global chemical capabilities. Starting in 1837, Procter and Gamble began producing chemicals, utilizing stearic acid, and re-selling the co-product red oil (olein) in Cincinnati, OH.

In 1858, P&G began producing branded products, starting with Star Glycerin, P&G’s first brand. Developing a host of new facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia, PGC has developed a competitive global supply chain and absorbed much of the original business functions of greater P&G. Specializing in the production of glycerine, methyl esters, alcohols, amines, fatty alcohols, and sucrose polyesters like Sefose and Olean, PGC supplies a variety of oleochemicals to companies around the world.

Related Research Articles

Ester Chemical compounds consisting of a carbonyl adjacent to an ether linkage

An ester is a chemical compound derived from an acid in which at least one –OH hydroxyl group is replaced by an –O– alkyl (alkoxy) group, as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides are fatty acid esters of glycerol; they are important in biology, being one of the main classes of lipids and comprising the bulk of animal fats and vegetable oils.

Fatty acid Carboxylic acid

In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, from 4 to 28. Fatty acids are a major component of the lipids in some species such as microalgae but in some other organisms are not found in their standalone form, but instead exist as three main classes of esters: triglycerides, phospholipids, and cholesteryl esters. In any of these forms, fatty acids are both important dietary sources of fuel for animals and important structural components for cells.

Petrochemical Chemical product derived from petroleum

Petrochemicals are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as maize, palm fruit or sugar cane.

Glycerol Chemical compound

Glycerol is a simple polyol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is sweet-tasting and non-toxic. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides. Due to having antimicrobial and antiviral properties it is widely used in FDA approved wound and burn treatments. Conversely, it is also used as a bacterial culture medium. It can be used as an effective marker to measure liver disease. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in pharmaceutical formulations. Owing to the presence of three hydroxyl groups, glycerol is miscible with water and is hygroscopic in nature.

In organic chemistry, transesterification is the process of exchanging the organic group R″ of an ester with the organic group R′ of an alcohol. These reactions are often catalyzed by the addition of an acid or base catalyst. The reaction can also be accomplished with the help of other enzymes, particularly lipases.

Epoxy Type of material

Epoxy is the family of basic components or cured end products of epoxy resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide functional group is also collectively called epoxy. The IUPAC name for an epoxide group is an oxirane.

Olestra

Olestra is a fat substitute that adds no calories to products. It has been used in the preparation of otherwise high-fat foods such as potato chips, thereby lowering or eliminating their fat content. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) originally approved olestra for use in the US as a replacement for fats and oils in prepackaged ready-to-eat snacks in 1996, concluding that such use "meets the safety standard for food additives, reasonable certainty of no harm". In the late 1990s, olestra lost its popularity due to side effects and has been largely phased out, but products containing the ingredient can still be purchased at grocery stores in some countries.

Cottonseed oil

Cottonseed oil is cooking oil from the seeds of cotton plants of various species, mainly Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium herbaceum, that are grown for cotton fiber, animal feed, and oil.

Biodiesel production is the process of producing the biofuel, biodiesel, through the chemical reactions of transesterification and esterification. This involves vegetable or animal fats and oils being reacted with short-chain alcohols. The alcohols used should be of low molecular weight. Ethanol is the most used because of its low cost, however, greater conversions into biodiesel can be reached using methanol. Although the transesterification reaction can be catalyzed by either acids or bases, the base-catalyzed reaction is more common. This path has lower reaction times and catalyst cost than those acid catalysis. However, alkaline catalysis has the disadvantage of high sensitivity to both water and free fatty acids present in the oils.

Valeric acid Carboxylic acid with chemical formula CH3CH2CH2CH2CO2H

Valeric acid or pentanoic acid is a straight-chain alkyl carboxylic acid with the chemical formula CH3(CH2)3COOH. Like other low-molecular-weight carboxylic acids, it has an unpleasant odor. It is found in the perennial flowering plant Valeriana officinalis, from which it gets its name. Its primary use is in the synthesis of its esters. Salts and esters of valeric acid are known as valerates or pentanoates. Volatile esters of valeric acid tend to have pleasant odors and are used in perfumes and cosmetics. Several, including ethyl valerate and pentyl valerate are used as food additives because of their fruity flavors.

1-Tetradecanol, or commonly myristyl alcohol (from Myristica fragrans – the nutmeg plant), is a straight-chain saturated fatty alcohol, with the molecular formula C14H30O. It is a white crystalline solid that is practically insoluble in water, soluble in diethyl ether, and slightly soluble in ethanol.

Polyester Category of polymers, in which the monomers are joined together by ester links.

Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include naturally occurring chemicals, in plants and insects, as well as synthetics such as polybutyrate. Natural polyesters and a few synthetic ones are biodegradable, but most synthetic polyesters are not. Synthetic polyesters are used extensively in clothing.

Polyester resins are synthetic resins formed by the reaction of dibasic organic acids and polyhydric alcohols. Maleic Anhydride is a commonly used raw material with diacid functionality in unsaturated polyester resins. Unsaturated polyester resins are used in sheet moulding compound, bulk moulding compound and the toner of laser printers. Wall panels fabricated from polyester resins reinforced with fiberglass—so-called fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP)—are typically used in restaurants, kitchens, restrooms and other areas that require washable low-maintenance walls. They are also used extensively in cured-in-place pipe applications. Departments of Transportation in the USA also specify them for use as overlays on roads and bridges. In this application they are known as PCO Polyester Concrete Overlays. These are usually based on isophthalic acid and cut with styrene at high levels—usually up to 50%. Polyesters are also used in anchor bolt adhesives though epoxy based materials are also used. Many companies have and continue to introduce styrene free systems mainly due to odor issues, but also over concerns that styrene is a potential carcinogen. Most polyester resins are viscous, pale coloured liquids consisting of a solution of a polyester in a reactive diluent which is usually styrene, but can also include vinyl toluene and various acrylates.

Fatty acid ester

Fatty acid esters (FAEs) are a type of ester that result from the combination of a fatty acid with an alcohol. When the alcohol component is glycerol, the fatty acid esters produced can be monoglycerides, diglycerides, or triglycerides. Dietary fats are chemically triglycerides.

Oleochemistry is the study of vegetable oils and animal oils and fats, and oleochemicals derived from these fats and oils. The resulting product can be called oleochemicals (from Latin: oleum "olive oil"). The major product of this industry is soap, approximately 8.9×106 tons of which were produced in 1990. Other major oleochemicals include fatty acids, fatty acid methyl esters, fatty alcohols and fatty amines. Glycerol is a side product of all of these processes. Intermediate chemical substances produced from these basic oleochemical substances include alcohol ethoxylates, alcohol sulfates, alcohol ether sulfates, quaternary ammonium salts, monoacylglycerols (MAG), diacylglycerols (DAG), structured triacylglycerols (TAG), sugar esters, and other oleochemical products.

Natural oil polyols, also known as NOPs or biopolyols, are polyols derived from vegetable oils by several different techniques. The primary use for these materials is in the production of polyurethanes. Most NOPs qualify as biobased products, as defined by the United States Secretary of Agriculture in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.

Procter & Gamble American multinational consumer goods corporation

The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer health, and personal care and hygiene products; these products are organized into several segments including Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine, & Family Care. Before the sale of Pringles to Kellogg's, its product portfolio also included food, snacks, and beverages. P&G is incorporated in Ohio.

Single cell oil, also known as Microbial oil consists of the intracellular storage lipids, triacyglycerols. It is similar to vegetable oil, another biologically produced oil. They are produced by oleaginous microorganisms, which is the term for those bacteria, molds, algae and yeast, which can accumulate 20% to 80% lipids of their biomass. The accumulation of lipids take place by the end of logarithmic phase and continues during station phase until carbon source begins to reduce with nutrition limitation.

Grzegorz Andrzej Ślak - Polish entrepreneur, lawyer, financier.

Sucrose esters Class of chemical compounds

Sucrose esters or sucrose fatty acid esters are a group of non-naturally occurring surfactants chemically synthesized from the esterification of sucrose and fatty acids. This group of substances is remarkable for the wide range of hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) that it covers. The polar sucrose moiety serves as a hydrophilic end of the molecule, while the long fatty acid chain serves as a lipophilic end of the molecule. Due to this amphipathic property, sucrose esters act as emulsifiers; i.e., they have the ability to bind both water and oil simultaneously. Depending on the HLB value, some can be used as water-in-oil emulsifiers, and some as oil-in-water emulsifiers. Sucrose esters are used in cosmetics, food preservatives, food additives, and other products. A class of sucrose esters with highly substituted hydroxyl groups, olestra, is also used as a fat replacer in food.

References

  1. "Procter and Gamble Chemicals". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.