Alcohol ethoxylates (AEOs) (http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05112004-170001/unrestricted/Brian2.pdf)
(http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05112004-170001/unrestricted/Brian2.pdf)
Alcohol ethoxylates (AEOs), alcohol propoxylates (APOs), and alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEOs) are non-ionic surfactants. The term surfactant covers surface active compounds characterized by their ability to concentrate at surfaces and to form micelles in solution. AEOs, APOs and APEOs contain two main molecular regions:
(1) the oligoether region, a hydrophilic chain, and
(2) the alkyl region which is hydrophobic (Fig 1).
CH3(CH2)xCH2O-(CH2CH2-O)yH
Figure 1.
x = No. of methylene unit repeats in the alcohol (10-16 is common).
y = No. of ethylene glycol ether [ethoxylate] subunits in the polyether chain.
APEOs are similar in structure to alcohol polyethers, they contain a benzene ring situated between the two regions found in alcohol polyethers. Since the mid-1940s APEOs have been used commercially for their surfactant ability. They have been used in a wide variety of applications including: industrial process aids, dispensing agents in paper and pulp production, emulsifying agents in latex paints and pesticide formulations, flotation agents, industrial cleaners (metal surfaces, textile processing, and food industry) and household cleaners. Certain APEOs have been determined to be estrogenic in fish, birds, and mammals. Due to the potentially toxic effects of some APEOs and their degradation products, alternative surfactants have been used in their place. Alcohol polyethers have been used in place of APEOs for residential and industrial uses.
Fatty alcohols, used in the formation of alcohol polyethers, are obtained from natural and synthetic sources. Coconut oil and tallow are the most commercially attractive sources of fatty alcohols because alcohols produced from their triglycerides are in the effective detergent range (C12-C18). Fatty alcohols obtained from natural sources are almost exclusively linear and contain only even number carbon alkyl chains. Synthetic alcohols can contain either an even or odd number of carbon atoms and can be either 100% linear or 20-25% branched, depending on the method of their formation. Production of alcohol polyethers is performed by reaction of ethylene oxide or propylene oxide with fatty alcohols. Acidic or basic catalysts can be used for polyether formation. A mixture of adducts result from competition between the epoxide and the initiator (fatty alcohol) and formed adducts. The synthesis of these compounds can result in a complex oligomeric mixture of fatty ethers that contain a distribution of either EOs or POs of varying chain length.
Can't you just take your GHB solution, and start evaporating the water and then dump it on a cold metal plate? So the powder will preticipate...
10.1046/j.1365-2044.1998.00603.x (http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365%2D2044.1998.00603.x)
(https://www.thevespiary.org/rhodium/Rhodium/hive/hiveboard/picproxie_imgs/pdf.gif)
http://www.evol.nw.ru/labs/lab38/spirov/hazard/benzyl_alcohol.html (http://www.evol.nw.ru/labs/lab38/spirov/hazard/benzyl_alcohol.html)
) but it should boil away after reacting the GBL with NaOH. It has a bp around 200C, so letting the reacted GBL+BA simmer at about 150C should get that away... Shouldn't it?