CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

detergent    →   deterdžent

Detergent is a substance added to water to improve its cleaning properties. Although water is a powerful solvent for many compounds, it will not dissolve grease and natural oils. Detergents are compounds that cause such nonpolar substances to go into solution in water. Soap is the original example, owing its action to the presence of ions formed from long-chain fatty acids ion (e.g. stearat ion, CH₃(CH₂)₁₆COO^-).

EDTA    →   EDTA

Ethyldiaminetetraacetic acid (C₁₀H₁₆N₂O₈) or shortened EDTA is a hexadentant ligand, and it forms chelates with both transition-metal ions and main-group ions. EDTA is used as a negative ion - EDTA^4-. The diagram shows the structure of the ion with the important atoms picked out. The EDTA ion entirely wraps up a metal ion using all 6 of the positions. The co-ordination number is again 6 because of the 6 co-ordinate bonds being formed by the central metal ion.

EDTA is frequently used in soaps and detergents, because it forms a complexes with calcium and magnesium ions. These ions are in hard water and interfere with the cleaning action of soaps and detergents. EDTA is also used extensively as a stabilizing agent in the food industry and as an anticoagulant for stored blood in blood banks. EDTA is the most common reagent in complexometric titration.

non-soap cleanser    →   nesapunsko sredstvo za čišćenje

Non-soap cleansers (detergents) are synthetically produced from byproducts of oil refining and are used in the production of washing powder, shampoos and hair conditioners.