This family covers fatty alkanolamides and related amphoteric betaines made from coconut, lauric, oleic or stearic acids with monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, DMAPA or ethylene diamine. They are foam boosters, thickeners and co-emulsifiers in wash products, and selected grades are antistatic in hair conditioners. Dyna Glycols manufactures them to agreed free amine, free fatty acid, pH, solids and viscosity.
What fatty amides and betaines are
This family covers fatty alkanolamides and related amphoteric betaines made from coconut, lauric, oleic or stearic acids with monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, DMAPA or ethylene diamine. They are foam boosters, thickeners and co-emulsifiers in wash products, and selected grades are antistatic in hair conditioners. Dyna Glycols manufactures them to agreed free amine, free fatty acid, pH, solids and viscosity.
Coco DEA and CMEA are not interchangeable with cocamidopropyl betaine. The amide is non-ionic; the betaine is amphoteric. Specify the chemistry, not only a shampoo thickener.
How Dyna Glycols manufactures fatty amides and betaines
The fatty acid is condensed with the named alkanolamine or converted to the betaine, then finished to the free-amine and acid windows on the TDS. Ethoxylated CMEA (3 or 5 EO) is run on the same alkoxylation plant used for other non-ionics.
PEG-4 soyamide and PEG-4 palmamide are ethoxylated amides for customers who need a liquid, more water-dispersible foam booster than a solid CMEA flake.
Typical grades in this range
Name the acid cut and whether the product is MEA amide, DEA amide, ethoxylated amide or betaine.
- Coco monoethanolamide (CMEA) and CMEA 3 EO / 5 EO
- Coco diethanolamide (CDEA) and lauric diethanolamide
- Lauric monoethanolamide; oleic and stearic diethanolamides
- Coco betaine and cocamidopropyl betaine
- PEG-4 soyamide and PEG-4 palmamide
Where fatty amides and betaines are used
Shampoo, bath gel, liquid soap and hand wash use CMEA or CDEA to boost foam and to salt-thicken ether-sulphate bases. Hair conditioners use selected amides as antistats. Industrial cleaners and textile wash-off use DEA amides as foam and viscosity builders.
Betaines (CAPB, coco betaine) milden anionic systems and add foam at a different pH window than a DEA amide. They are the usual path when residual DEA is restricted.
Personal-care and HI&I briefs should state whether DEA, MEA or betaine is allowed. Dyna Glycols will not substitute CAPB for CDEA unless the enquiry asks for that change.
How to specify fatty amides and betaines
Send the acid (coco, lauric, oleic, stearic), MEA vs DEA vs betaine, free-amine and free-acid maxima, pH, solids and the surfactant base the amide must thicken. For ethoxylated CMEA, state 3 or 5 EO.
If matching a competitor CDEA or CAPB, attach solids, pH and salt-curve notes from that TDS.
Quality, documents and supply
Lots are released against free amine, free fatty acid, pH, solids, colour and appearance. SDS and COA follow verification. Salt-thickening must be confirmed in the customer wash base; a bottle foam test is not enough.
Store flakes dry. Melt CMEA uniformly before charging. Protect liquids from frost. Follow the SDS.
Practical notes on fatty amides and betaines
CMEA is typically a flake; CDEA is a liquid or paste. Plant handling is different. Do not order CMEA if the process cannot melt a wax.
Residual DEA policy belongs on the first enquiry. Many rinse-off specifications have moved to CMEA, betaine or a non-amide thickener.
Betaines can contain residual sodium chloride that changes the salt curve of an SLES system. Ask for chloride on the COA if the formula is salt-sensitive.
Ethoxylated CMEA is more water-dispersible than unethoxylated flake and is used when cold processing is required.
Related pages: sulphates and sulfonates, fatty alcohol ethoxylates, personal-care chemicals. Sample the wash base as a set: ether sulphate plus amide or betaine.
English is the source language for INCI and residual-amine claims.
Ordering and evaluating fatty amides and betaines
Dyna Glycols supports fatty amides and betaines with laboratory samples, current SDS, TDS and COA from the Kandla SEZ manufacturing network. Tell us the intended application, the substrate, the required moles or molecular weight, and any limits on colour, odour, cloud point, hydroxyl value, pH or residual feedstock. A matching catalogue grade of fatty amides and betaines in the Amides family can then be confirmed, or a custom batch can be planned on the ethoxylation, esterification or related plant.
When you evaluate fatty amides and betaines, send the competitor grade if one exists, the bath or emulsion conditions, and the tests your receiving laboratory will run. Pack options for fatty amides and betaines typically include drums, IBCs and bulk where the viscosity and melting point of the selected grade allow safe handling from the Amides manufacturing line.
A first order of fatty amides and betaines is easier when the purchase specification lists identity tests, not only a local trade name. Hydroxyl value, saponification value, acid value, cloud point, pH, water, colour and appearance are the numbers the Kandla QA laboratory can lock. If your QC uses a different solvent or a different cloud-point electrolyte for fatty amides and betaines, write that method on the order so the COA speaks the same language.
Custom lots of fatty amides and betaines are quoted after the hydrophobe or acid/alcohol pair, the target analytical window, the annual volume and the pack. Pilot batches are available when a catalogue point in the Amides range is close but not exact. Once a trial lot is approved, that TDS should be frozen so the tenth delivery of fatty amides and betaines matches the first approved drum.
Storage of fatty amides and betaines should follow the SDS: keep containers closed, protect hygroscopic grades from moisture, and warm high-melt or high-mole grades until uniform before sampling. FIFO rotation protects colour and odour. If a drum of fatty amides and betaines has frozen or separated in transit, homogenise it before charging a batch; do not decant only the liquid layer.
Application advice for fatty amides and betaines is given against the process you describe, not as a universal recipe. Share machine type, temperature, pH, electrolytes, fibre or hide type, and any ban on APEO, formaldehyde or food-contact lists. Dyna Glycols can then sample fatty amides and betaines alone or as a pair with a sister grade from the same Amides family so compatibility is checked in one evaluation.
Documentation for fatty amides and betaines is issued after a short verification of the company and the exact grade name. SDS covers handling; TDS covers typical properties; COA covers the shipping lot. If a customer audit needs extra tests on fatty amides and betaines (for example residual feedstock, peroxide, formaldehyde or a pharmacopoeia-style identity), list those tests at the enquiry stage so they are built into release rather than added after dispatch.
Next step
Need a specification for this chemistry?
Tell us the substrate, EO/PO moles and the application. We will confirm a catalogue grade or a custom batch.