Babassuamide DEA, also known as Babassu Diethanolamine, is an amide formed by reacting diethanolamine (DEA) with the fatty acids from babassu oil (Orbignya Oleifera). This compound is used primarily as an emulsifying and foaming agent in cosmetic and personal care products.

Chemical Composition and Structure

The molecule of Babassuamide DEA is composed of a diethanolamine backbone linked to the fatty acid chains derived from babassu oil, such as lauric, myristic, palmitic, and oleic acids. This structure creates a non-ionic surfactant with properties conducive to stabilizing oil-water mixtures and enhancing the foaming capacity of cosmetic formulations.

Physical Properties

Babassuamide DEA typically appears as a viscous, pale yellow liquid. It has excellent solubility in water and oils, making it suitable for a wide range of cosmetic applications. It's also known for its ability to enhance the texture and feel of products by contributing to a rich and creamy foam.

Production Process

Extraction of Babassu Oil: The process starts with extracting oil from the babassu palm seeds, which is rich in the necessary fatty acids.

Synthesis of the Amide:

Reacting Fatty Acids with DEA: The extracted babassu oil is reacted with diethanolamine under controlled conditions. This step involves heating the mixture to promote the reaction between the carboxyl groups of the fatty acids and the amine groups of DEA to form the amide linkage.

Monitoring and Controlling Reaction: The reaction is closely monitored to ensure complete conversion while maintaining the integrity and desired properties of the product.

Purification:

Removal of By-products and Unreacted Materials: Following the synthesis, the mixture is purified to remove any unreacted diethanolamine, excess fatty acids, and other by-products through methods such as distillation or filtration.

Adjustment and Standardization: The final product is adjusted to meet specific viscosity and pH standards suitable for cosmetic use.

Quality Control: Rigorous testing is conducted to ensure the final product meets quality, safety, and performance criteria. Tests include checking for impurities, correct amide structure, and compatibility with other cosmetic ingredients.

Applications

Cosmetics and Personal Care: Babassuamide DEA is extensively used in shampoos, conditioners, body washes, and facial cleansers for its moisturizing properties and ability to create a rich, creamy lather. It also serves as a thickening agent in lotions and creams.

• Hair conditioning agent. A large number of ingredients with specific purposes can co-exist in a hair shampoo: cleansers, conditioners, thickeners, mattifying agents, sequestering agents, fragrances, preservatives, special additives. However, the indispensable ingredients are the cleansers and conditioners as they are necessary and sufficient for hair cleansing and manageability. The others act as commercial and non-essential auxiliaries such as: appearance, fragrance, colouring, etc. Hair conditioning agents have the task of increasing shine, manageability and volume, and reducing static electricity, especially after treatments such as colouring, ironing, waving, drying and brushing. They are, in practice, dispersing agents that may contain cationic surfactants, thickeners, emollients, polymers. The typology of hair conditioners includes: intensive conditioners, instant conditioners, thickening conditioners, drying conditioners.
• Surfactant - Foam booster. Its function is to introduce gas bubbles into the water for a purely aesthetic factor, which does not affect the cleaning process, but only satisfies the commercial aspect of the detergent by helping to spread the detergent on the hair. This helps in the commercial success of a shampoo formulation. Since sebum has an inhibiting action on the bubble, more foam is produced in the second shampoo.
• Viscosity Enhancing Agent - aqueous. Since viscosity is important for increasing the chemical and physical stability of the product, Viscosity Enhancing Agent acqueous is an important dosage factor in gels, suspensions, emulsions, solutions. Increasing viscosity makes formulations less sedimentary and more homogeneously thickened.

CAS: 124046-24-8

Environmental and Safety Considerations

While generally considered safe for cosmetic use, there are concerns regarding the use of diethanolamine (DEA) and its derivatives due to potential formation of nitrosamines, which are known carcinogens. Products containing Babassuamide DEA are typically formulated to prevent such reactions and are subject to strict regulatory standards to ensure safety. Moreover, the ingredient is biodegradable, aligning with environmental sustainability practices, but responsible sourcing and manufacturing practices are crucial to minimize any environmental impact.

Restricted cosmetic ingredient as III/60  a Relevant Item in the Annexes of the European Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009. Substance or ingredient reported: Fatty acid dialkylamides and dialkanolamides.

Maximum secondary amine content: 0.5%. - Do not use with nitrosating systems - Maximum secondary amine content: 5% (applies to raw materials) - Maximum nitrosamine content: 50 microgram/kg - Keep in nitrite-free containers

Diethanolamine (tiiips.com)