Ammonium lauryl sulfate

Ammonium lauryl sulfate (ALS) is the common name for ammonium dodecyl sulfate (CH3(CH2)10CH2OSO3NH4). The molecule consists of a long nonpolar hydrocarbon chain and a polar sulfate end group, the combination of which make the material a surfactant. These two components allow the compound to dissolve among both polar and non-polar molecules. ALS is classified as an alkyl sulfate and is an anionic surfactant found primarily in shampoos and body-wash as a foaming agent. Lauryl sulfates are very high-foam surfactants that disrupt the surface tension of water in part by forming micelles around the highly polar water molecules at the surface-air interface. ALS has a pH slightly less than 7 making it a mildly acidic.

This page uses material from the related Wikipedia article which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.