Gas-liquid chromatographic separation of ethylene oxide adducts of fatty alcohols via their acetate esters

Gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) of ethylene oxide adducts of fatty alcohols is carried out after conversion of the alcohols to aetate esters. This conversion permits detection of higher mol wt compounds. Separate peaks for adducts with up to 13 units of ethylene oxide are obtained for a product derived from dodecyl alcohol. The procedure is used to follow the course of a molecular distillation of an adduct prepared from hexadecyl alcohol and an example is also shown for an adduct derived from a mixture of dodecyl and tetradecyl alcohols. Presented at the AOCS Meeting in Minneapolis, 1963.