Description
Tween 80, commonly known as polysorbate 80, is a synthetic compound that is widely applied in a variety of fields, including foods, medicines, and cosmetics. In food production, it is commonly used as a defoamer for the fermenting process of some wines and as a emulsifier in ice-cream or “puddings” to keep the creamy texture without separating. Tween 80 is also extensively applied in pharmaceutical industry, where it can be found in some vaccines, vitamins and supplements. It is an effective excipient to stabilize aqueous formulations of medications for parenteral administration and to improve the consistency of gel capsules, thus to make pills disperse in the stomach. Besides, it commonly serve as a surfactant and solubilizer in the production of soaps and cosmetics, which is effective to help dissolve ingredients and make products look creamier and more attractive. In laboratory, it is occasionally used for a test to identify the phenotype of a strain or isolate, such as mycobacteria.
Chemical Properties
TWEEN 80 is a polyethylene sorbitol ester, with a calculated molecular weight of 1,310 daltons, assuming 20 ethylene oxide units, sorbitol, and 1 oleic acid as the primary fatty acid.
Tweens are a series of nonionic surfactants derived from sorbitan esters. They are soluble or dispersible in water but differ widely in organic and oil solubilities. TWEEN 80 has been widely used in biochemical applications including: solubilizing proteins, isolating nuclei from cells in culture,5 growing of tubercule bacilli,6 and emulsifying and dispersing substances in medicinal and food products. It has little or no activity as an anti-bacterial agent1 except it has been shown to have an adverse effect on the antibacterial effect of methyl paraben and related compounds. Polysorbates have been reported to be incompatible with alkalis, heavy metal salts, phenols, and tannic acid. They may reduce the activity of many preservatives.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysorbate_80
http://thegoodhuman.com/what-is-polysorbate-80/
http://www.crodahealthcare.com/home.aspx?s=149&r=344&p=2259
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/443315#section=Top[1] Lee S. Schwartzberg, Rudolph M. Navari. “Safety of Polysorbate 80 in the Oncology Setting.” Advances in Therapy 35 6 (2018): 754–767.
Characteristics
Tween 80, commercially known as Polysorbate-80, is a viscous, water-soluble Yellow to amber liquid derived from polyethoxylated sorbitan and oleic acid. Tween 80 is structurally similar to the (polyethylene) glycols and used both in injections (0.8-8.0%) and in oral suspension (0.375% w/v). A number of anticancer drugs can be formulated by Tween 80. Typical examples include etoposide and minor groove-binding cyclopropylpyrroloindole analogues like carzelesin.
Chemical Properties
Tween 80 has a faint, characteristic odor and a warm, somewhat bitter taste. It is a mixture of oleate partial esters
of sorbitol and sorbitol anhydrides condensed with approximately 20 mole of ethylene oxide (C2H4O) for each mole of sorbitol and
its mono- and dianhydrides.
Uses
Tween 80 is a general purpose mid-range HLB, ethoxylated, nonionic surfactant suggested for use in textile chemicals (emulsifier, lubricant), household products and cosmetic formulations (o/w emulsifier, viscosity modifier).
Uses
Tween 80 is used as an antistat for PVC and as an antifog for PP, PE, PVC, PS.
Uses
Tween 80 is used as an emulsifier (ice cream, whipped topping) and as a solubilizing and dispersing agent in pickles and special vitamin-mineral preparations.
Uses
Tween 80 is the trade name of a detergent that can be useful in identifying mycobacteria that possess a lipase that splits the compound into oleic acid and polyoxyethylated sorbitol.
Tween 80 is used as an additive for cell culture media. It has numerous effects, e.g. increasing the transformation frequency of Brevibacterium lactofermentum or enhancing the secretion of acid and alkaline phosphatase by Neurospora crassa.
Definition
ChEBI: A polymer composed of PEG-ylated sorbitan, where the total number of poly(ethylene glycol) units is 20 (w + x + y + z = 20) and a single terminal is capped by an oleoyl group.
brand name
Sorlate (Abbott); Tween 80 (ICI Americas).
General Description
Amber-colored viscous liquid. pH (5% aqueous solution) 5-7. Faint odor and bitter taste.
Polysorbate 80 (Tween 80) is a synthetic surfactant composed of fatty acid esters of polyoxyethylene sorbitan. Polysorbate 80 is usually available as a chemically diverse mixture of different fatty acid esters, with the oleic acid comprising>58% of the mix. However, the main component of polysorbate 80 is polyoxyethylene-20-sorbitan monooleate, which is structurally similar to polyethylene glycols. Polysorbate 80 has a molecular weight of 1309.7 Da and a 1.064 g/ml density[1].
Air & Water Reactions
Water soluble.
Reactivity Profile
Tween 80 is incompatible with strong alkalis and oxidizers.
Fire Hazard
Tween 80 is probably combustible.
Biochem/physiol Actions
Tween 80 is used as emulsifiers, dissolving agents and stabilizer for essential oils, topical application and medical infusions including intravenous, subcutaneous or intramuscular administration.
Pharmacokinetics
Polysorbate 80 (Tween 80) is rapidly removed from systemic circulation. The polysorbate 80 plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) in a patient administered an intravenous (IV) infusion of docetaxel 35 mg/m2 (polysorbate 80 1.75 g) showed a polysorbate 80 peak concentration of 304 μg/ml. The AUC for polysorbate 80 was 321.7 mg h/ml, with a short disposition half-life of 1.07 h and a total plasma clearance of 5.44 l/h. The distribution of polysorbate 80 at steady state was similar to the total blood volume (4.16 l), suggesting that polysorbate 80 circulates as large micelles and does not significantly distribute outside the central compartment. In vitro studies suggest that polysorbate 80 is metabolized by rapid carboxylesterase-mediated hydrolysis[1].
Safety Profile
Moderately toxic by
intravenous route. Mildly toxic by ingestion.
Experimental reproductive effects.
Questionable carcinogen with experimental
tumorigenic data. Human mutation data
reported. An eye irritant. When heated to
decomposition it emits acrid smoke and
irritating fumes.
