Performance and mildness of alkyl glycoside hydroxypropyl sulfonate

Alkyl glycoside hydroxypropyl sulfonate (APGSHS), as a kind of anionic surfactant was successfully prepared using sodium 3‐chloro‐2‐hydroxypropane sulfonate and alkyl polyglucoside (APG). The surface and application properties of APGSHS were studied in detail. The results showed that APGSHS showed much enhanced solubility and there for better foaming and detergency properties than APG due to the introduction of sulfonate group. Then, the mildness of APGSHS and commercially available mild surfactants was compared using zein test and hemolysis of red blood cells (RBC) test. APGSHS has higher mildness than other surfactants, such as potassium lauroylglycinate (PLG), lauramidopropyl betaine (LAB), and sodium laurylmethyl taurate (LMT). The mechanism of mildness was investigated by studying the interaction between APGSHS and protein using zein model through micelle behavior and protein structure. It was observed that compared to other anionic surfactants such as sodium fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether sulfate (AES) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), APGSHS possesses a larger hydrophilic head group and causes less damage to the secondary structure of zein. Finally, the effect of different surfactants on the hair keratin loss during washing was evaluated. The results showed APGSHS had a minimal damaging effect on keratin in the hair, resulting in the lowest protein loss. This work suggests APGSHS as a promising ingredient for green and mild cleaning products.