Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
'I'his in~lention rela-tes -to nair treatmerlt com~osi'cions
and me-thods o-F trea-ting hair.
Fluorescen-t r~Jhitenirlg agents also ]~no-"n as optical
brighteners have been ernployed by detergen-t.,1anuLacturers to
increase the whi-telless or brightness of clothing ~7nich has been
i7ashed ~.7ith such detergents.
Such fluorescent ~Jhitening agen-ts have also been ern-
plo-yed in paint com?osi'._ions to increase -the ~,7hiteness or T,7hite
pigments such as titaniurn dioxide ~Chelnical Abstrac-ts Vol. 74,
1971, 143399a).
These agents are, in particular, ~luorescent organic
cornpounds ~f~hich absorb radiation or light at one waveleng-th or
region and emit it a-~- a different wavelength or region. In par-
ticular, the absorbed radiation or light excites khe agent to a
higher electronic state and then ernits visible radiation in
passing to a lower electronic state.
The present invention is rnore especially concerned T.7itn
fluorescent organic cornpounds ~17hich absorb inc.ident light in the
~ e rg ~/
.~ ultraviolet region and emit part oE the absorbed ~ as
.~
visible li~ht, especiall~ in the blue region o~ the visible
spectrum.
In accordance -i7ith the present invention i-t has no~.,7
been found that certain fluorescent organic cornpounds can be
employed to impart a fluorescent or "bright" quality to :the
hair.
Particular fluorescent compounds emplo~ed in acco.dance
.~i-th the invention have a subs-tantivit~ for the ]~eratinaceous
substrate o~ hair and -.~ill thus bincl-to -the hair.
The fluorescent organic compounds rna~ be employed in a
3~ variet~ of hair -trea-cment com2ositions including hair washing
compositions or shampoos, hair conditiol1ing co~positions, nair
setting cornpositions, hair colouring compositiolls and hair
3i9~
~S~3
rinsincJ colnposi-tiorls, in ;~hich case other ac'cive inyrediencs
will also be present in tne composition. The ~luorescent or-
yanic cornpounds may also be ernployed as the sole active in~Jre-
dient in a new class oL hair trea-t.nent compositions eM~loycd
solely to iinparc a fluorescent cluality 'co hair.
The invention thus provides hair treatrnen-t composi'cions
comprisinc; an accep-table amount o-~ a -;luorescen'c orcJanic com-
pound havinc3 a substan-tivity for tne l~era-tinaceous subs'crate or
the hair in association with an aeceptable earrier or vehicle.
The invention also provides a method of brightening
hair or impartiny a briyhteniny e~feet to hair whieh eomprises
applyiny a brighteninc3 amount o~ a fluorescen-t compound or tne
invention to hair.
It will be understood that an acce?table amoun-t o~ the
compound in the composition is one such thak trea-trnent of the
hair ~ith the composition ~ill result in binding of an amount
(herein referred to as a briyhtening amount) of the compound to
the hair, eE~eetive to aehieve a diseernible and desired fluor-
eseent effeet visible to the human eye.
If the eoneentration of the fluorescent eompound is too
lo~J, either no discernible effeet will be produeed, or repeated
use o-f the eomposi-tion a plurality of times may be required in
order to aehieve a discernible eEfeet.
Ir the concentration o~ the fluorescen-t compound is too
high the presence of~h~com~ound in the hair may be noticeable
and an unsic~htly, unelean appearanee may resul-ti in addition in-
ereasing the eoneentration beyond what is required~ inereases
the eost unneeessarily.
Generally it is found that a eoncentration o~ about
0.0001% to about 2o~ by ~7eiyht, of fluorescent eom~ound, based
on tne JJeiyht of che COlll~OSiCiOII, provides sa-tis~actory results.
preferably the concentra-tion is abouto 005 ^~ to about o 05 ~o~
-- 2 --
'~25~6~3
by weight.
It l~Jill be understood.tnat an acceptablc carri2r or
vehicle is one ~7hicn is relatively inert, ~7hich -7ill not
deleteriously interfere ~7itn the binding of 'che compound 'co 'cne
hair and ~i7hich ~7il 1 no-t affect the hair or scalp such chat i-ts
applica-tion to a head of hair 70u.1d be harmIul.
Liquid vehicles employed in e,~isting hair treatrnent
composi-tions are sui.table for use in ~he compositions OL -the
invention. Thus suitable liquid vehicles include hair ~Jashing
formulations, hair condit:ioning formulations, hair se-tting
formulations, hair colouring formulations and hair rinsing
formulations~
It ~ill be understood that ~.7hen the hair treatment
composi-tion has a function other than to impart a fluorescent
quality to the hair, it will contain othQr ingredients necessary
for its function, for e~ample, washing or colouring agents.
A particularly useful class of fluorescent compounds
for use in the composition of -the invention are coumarin deri-
vatives of formula (r)
~ (I~
R2 -N
R3
~;7rlerein R1, ~2 and R3, ~Ihich may be the same or different are
selected from the group consisting of s-traight or branched chain
al};yl and nydro~yal,~yl groups of 1 to 6 carbon a-toms.
An especially preferred compound (I) is 7 diethylamino-
~-^metllylcoumarin (~ is ~e-thyl, R2 and R3 are ethyl) .7hich e~-
hibits the iollo~7ing cnarac-teristics:
~;5~
Ionic Cllarac-Ler: wea;~ly cationic
Absori~-tion ma.~imum 375 nn (in et.lanol)
Fluorescence ma~imum~ 0 n.n (on wool~
The com30sitions o~ -~he invention may additionall~ con-
~ain one o.r more conventional addi-tives selected 7ror.l sur-ace
active agents, perIume, colouring substances, inorganic sal'cs,
oxidizing agents, reducing agents~ oils, al]~anols, gl~cols,
waYes, pol~mers, he.rbal extracts, animal e,~tracts and silicones.
The invention is further illustrated by relerence to
the accompanying drawings in which:
FicJ. 1 illustrates graphically the reflectance/emission
curve of 7-diethylalnino-4~methylcoumarin on a subs-trate of
polyamide fibres.
Fiy. 2 illustrates graphically the increase in the
brightness e'-~ect achieved employing a composition in accordance
wi-th -the invention, appliecl to a wool substrate.
The invencion is further illustrated b~ rererence to
the rollowing Eramples.
EX~lPL~ 1
7-Diethylar.~ino 4 .nethylcoumarin -was added to a wash
liquid suitable for wool, in a concentration of 0.0002r'6, by
weight. A woollen substrate was washed successively 1 to 15
times in the wash liquid a'c a temperature or about ~0C., each
wash being Eor a period of about 15 minutes. Tne brightness oF
the substrate was rated on a scale or 1 to 15 after each wasn.
The brightness scale employed i5 an arbitrary scale quantified
.Jith the use of a suitable spectrophotometer.
The results aro shown graphically in Fig. 2, ~Jhic}l
SLIOWS a steady increase in brightness during ~he 7irst seven
waslles with a less significant increase in brightness being
achieved with subse¢uent wasnes.
