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Close up of Block Branched Alcohols

Branched alcohols  

Exxal™ alcohols are isomeric branched, primary alcohols that contain both even- and odd-numbered hydrocarbon chains, ranging from C8 to C13. In general, there are two main types of structures in industrial alcohols:

  • Linear (or straight-chain) molecules: obtained from synthetic or natural sources
  • Branched chain alcohols: produced from propylene and butene

Our customers use Exxal alcohols to synthesize derivatives used in industrial applications:

They are also used as solvents or cosolvents for coatings, inks and metal extraction in mining.


Benefits

High-purity Exxal™ alcohols exhibit reactivity typical of higher primary alcohols. Thanks to their branched structure, Exxal alcohols offer many performance advantages to ethoxylates compared to linear alcohol-based ones:

  • Low pour point – prohibits gel and wax formation, facilitates processing of alcohols and derivatives
  • Biodegradability – all of our alcohols and their ethoxylates meet the OECD 301F readily biodegradable threshold for isomeric mixtures
  • Superior wetting power of derived surfactants – excellent candidates for resource extraction and nonylphenol substitution
  • Powerful solvency in coatings and inks, fully soluble in hydrocarbon fluids while enhancing their solvency power
  • Wide viscosity ranges in synlubes
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Industries and applications

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