Patent Pick: Getting Fresh

Laundry-300

Henkel knows our dirty secret: we forget to move loads of laundry to the dryer. So they sit, forgotten, in a damp funk. That's why the company has (thankfully) patented photolabile pro-fragrances to extend the freshness of laundry fragrance.

Photolabile pro-fragrances
U.S. Patent 9284261
Publication date: March 15, 2016
Assignee: Henkel AG & Co. KGaA

According to this patent, fragrances that provide a fresh scent tend to be volatile, so they must be used in larger quantities for desired effects in laundry care or other cleansing applications. But this is not very economical.

These inventors have therefore developed photolabile pro-fragrances that provide longer-lasting fragrance, particularly fresh scents. The specific details of the compounds are outlined in the patent, but in general, they are designed to delay the release of scent ketones such as damascone, or scent esters such as cinnamic acid and derivatives of cinnamic acid.

The use of these compounds in washing, cleaning or care agents, particularly in connection with textile treatments, leads to an improved long-term scent effect.

Patent accessed March 18, 2016.

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