Separation of nonionic surfactant according to the length of the ethylene oxide chain on alumina layers

Abstract
The separation of non‐ionic surfactants such as α‐(1,1,3,3‐tetramethylbutyl)phenyl ethylene oxide oligomers according to the length of the ethylene oxide chain was achieved on precoated alumina thin‐layer plates using various n‐hexane — ethyl acetate, n‐hexane — dioxan and n‐hexane — tetrahydrofuran mixtures as the eluent. Ethylene oxide oligomers were well separated in each eluent systems, a higher concentration of the stronger component in the eluent was needed for the separation of oligomers with longer ethylene oxide chain. Spectral mapping technique established that the solvent strength of tetrahydrofuran is the highest followed by dioxane and ethyl acetate, and the selectivity of ethyl acetate differs considerably from those of the other two solvents.

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