99%,Sodium deoxycholate CAS 302-95-4

What is sodium deoxycholate? How does it work? What are all its uses?

1. What is sodium deoxycholate? How does it work?

Sodium deoxycholate (CAS 83-44-3) is the sodium salt of deoxycholic acid, also referred to as sodium deoxycholic acid. It belongs to the bile salt family and ranks among the most widely applied bile acid anionic surfactants for scientific research, industrial production, food and daily chemical sectors. Molecular formula: C₂₄H₃₉NaO₄; molecular weight ~414.56; CAS No.: 302-95-4; EINECS/EC No.: 206-132-1.

At room temperature, it appears as white or slightly off-white crystalline powder with a faint peculiar odour and strong bitter taste. It is readily soluble in water and ethanol, and insoluble in ether. Aqueous solubility: 330 g/L (15℃). Boiling Point: 547.1°C Melting Point: 357–365°C Specific Optical Rotation: +40.0° to +45.0° (20 mg/mL aqueous solution) Density: Approximately 1.012 (20°C) Flash Point: >110°C pH: 7.5–9.0 (1% aqueous solution) Hygroscopic.

Industrially, it is manufactured by refining deoxycholic acid extracted from animal bile (cattle, pigs, chickens, etc.), followed by neutralisation with sodium hydroxide for salt formation. It is a fine chemical sourced from renewable natural raw materials.

The core structure of sodium deoxycholate is a cholanoic acid steroidal skeleton, carrying hydroxyl groups at the 3α and 12α positions and a hydrophilic sodium carboxylate group at the terminal end. The whole molecule possesses a typical "planar amphiphilic" structure: one face of the steroidal skeleton is entirely the hydrophobic methyl β-face, while the opposite face is the hydrophilic hydroxyl α-face. This rigid planar structure differentiates it from conventional linear surfactants, granting it stronger interfacial adsorption capacity, membrane-disrupting capacity, emulsifying performance and biocompatibility.

Chemically, sodium deoxycholate is a typical bile acid anionic surfactant (anionic detergent). Its aqueous solution is weakly alkaline (pH 7.5–9.0) and exhibits favourable surface activity, emulsifying, wetting, dispersing and solubilising capabilities. It can form stable emulsion systems and mixed micelles with oils, waxes and phospholipids. It naturally exists in animal bile. The physiological function of bile acids is to emulsify and dissolve dietary fats and facilitate intestinal digestion and absorption. Therefore, it is a representative bile salt with natural characteristics and industrial value.

Storage: Keep in dry, airtight containers, protected from light and away from heat sources.

By grade classification, sodium deoxycholate can be divided into industrial grade, biochemical reagent grade, food grade and cosmetic grade.

· Industrial grade: applicable for industrial production including chemicals, cleaning, leather, textiles, agrochemicals, coatings, oil processing, biomanufacturing and new materials.

· Biochemical reagent grade: used for scientific research experiments.

· Food grade: applied for food emulsification and stabilisation.

· Cosmetic grade: incorporated into personal care formulations.

From the perspective of mechanism of action, sodium deoxycholate exerts its effects through its unique properties of "planar amphiphilicity + membrane dissolution + protein solubilization + emulsification + micellar solubilization", and the mechanisms of action in different applications are as follows:

1. Mechanism of amphiphilic surfactant (planar amphiphilic structure) Sodium deoxycholate has a hydrophobic steroidal methyl face and a hydrophilic hydroxyl face, forming a natural “two-sided” amphiphilic molecule. It spontaneously adsorbs at oil-water and solid-liquid interfaces and markedly reduces interfacial tension. This forms the foundation for its functions as an emulsifier, wetting agent, dispersant, detergent and cleaning agent.

2. Membrane dissolution mechanism (intercalation in lipid bilayer) The rigid planar structure of sodium deoxycholate allows it to insert into the lipid bilayer of the cell membrane, compete with membrane phospholipids for alignment, and disrupt the hydrophobic core of the membrane, resulting in the release of contents.

3. Mechanism of protein solubilization (disruption of hydrophobic interactions) The hydrophobic surface of sodium deoxycholate can bind to exposed hydrophobic regions of proteins and lipids and break the hydrophobic interactions between molecules. This results in depolymerization and entry of insoluble proteins and lipids into the aqueous phase, and encapsulation of their hydrophobic regions by micelles to prevent re-aggregation. This provides the mechanistic basis for the processes of lipid solubilization and decellularization..

4. Mechanism of emulsion stabilisation (reduction of oil-water interfacial tension) Sodium deoxycholate adsorbs at the oil–water interface to form a tightly packed interfacial film, lowering interfacial tension and preventing oil droplet coalescence. It enables oily substances such as oils, waxes, pesticide raw materials and active ingredients to disperse as fine droplets in water and form long-term stable emulsions. This provides the mechanistic basis for food emulsification, industrial emulsions and formulation development.

5. Micellar solubilization mechanism (encapsulation of the hydrophobic core) Sodium deoxycholate molecules form micelles at concentrations above the critical micelle concentration (CMC). The hydrophobic core can trap poorly soluble substances (lipid-soluble active ingredients, pigments etc.) and thus improve their apparent solubility and stability in water to a great extent. This is the mechanistic basis of solubilizing agents, liposomes, mixed micelles and nano carriers processes.

To summarise, sodium deoxycholate is a versatile natural bile salt surfactant. It can act as a detergent to lyse and solubilise membrane proteins by inserting into lipid bilayers; as an emulsifier to stabilise oil-water emulsions by reducing interfacial tension; as a solubilizer to encapsulate poorly soluble substances via the hydrophobic core of micelles; and as a bio-based auxiliary for industrial production and formulation processes. It is one of the most common bile acid derivatives used in scientific research, industry, food and daily chemical fields.

II. What are all the uses of Sodium deoxycholate?

1. Industrial emulsifiers and emulsion stabilisers (Fine Chemicals, Core Application) 

Application Areas: Fine Chemicals Related Products: Industrial emulsions, emulsifying waxes, metalworking fluids, cutting fluids, co-emulsifiers for emulsion polymerisation

Applicability Principle: Sodium deoxycholate is an anionic surfactant which can be rapidly adsorbed at the oil-water interface to form a thick interfacial film, which can greatly reduce the interfacial tension and prevent aggregation of oil droplets, so that the oily material can be stably dispersed in water to form a stable and non-degrading emulsion which can last for a long time. Its natural origin and biodegradability is in line with the trend of green chemistry and makes it a bio-based emulsifier option in industrial emulsification formulations.

2.Industrial cleaning and metal degreasing (main application in the cleaning field) 

Application Field: Industrial cleaning Related Products: Metal parts degreasing agents, industrial degreasing cleaners, equipment maintenance cleaning fluids, precision instrument cleaners

Applicability Principle: The planar amphiphilic structure of sodium deoxycholate reduces interfacial energy between oil and metal surfaces, penetrates the oil layer and emulsifies and removes grease. It emulsifies and disperses machine oil, rust inhibitors and cutting residues from workshop equipment and metal parts in the cleaning fluid very fast, allowing water-based and environmental-friendly degreasing and substituting some highly polluting solvent-based cleaning agents.

3.Leather degreasing and tanning auxiliaries (leather industry)

Application Field: Leather industry Related Products: Leather degreasing agents, water-soaking and liming auxiliaries, fatliquoring emulsifying components, fur processing auxiliaries

Applicability Principle: Raw hides and furs contain a large amount of natural fats, incomplete degreasing will affect subsequent tanning and the quality of the finished product. Sodium deoxycholate emulsifies and disperses the intradermal fats, thus enabling the degreasing agent to penetrate the interstices of the leather fibres. It is also gentle to leather collagen and therefore minimises damage and is an effective bio-based degreasing aid in the leather pretreatment process.

4.Textile scouring and levelling dyeing auxiliaries (textile industry) 

Application Field: Textile and dyeing industry

Related Products: Scouring agents, degreasing agents, penetrants, levelling agents, denim washing auxiliaries

Applicability Principle: Cotton and linen fibres have waxes, pectin and oils that need to be removed by scouring before dyeing. Sodium deoxycholate can wet and penetrate the fibres, emulsify and remove natural waxes and oils, thus improving the scouring and bleaching effects. Its emulsifying and dispersing properties are at the same time useful to ensure uniform application of the dye bath and to reduce unevenness of colour, thus making it a multifunctional auxiliary agent in pretreatment and dyeing processes.

5. Wetting and dispersion for Coatings and Inks (Coatings Industry)

Application Field: Coating & Ink Industry

Related Products:Wetting and dispersing agents for water-based coatings, pigment dispersing aids, emulsifying components for printing inks, additives for water-based wood coatings.

Applicability Principle: Pigments and resins in coatings and inks need to be uniformly dispersed and have good wetting properties on the substrate. Sodium deoxycholate can reduce the surface energy of pigment particles, preventing agglomeration and sedimentation, and reduce the contact angle of the coating with the substrate, improving levelling and spreading, leading to uniform film formation and consistent colour. It acts as a secondary wetting and dispersing agent in aqueous systems.

6.Enzymatic processing and lipase activation in the oil and fat industry (oil and fat processing field) 

Application Field: Oil and fat processing and bio-refining

Related Products: Enzymatic oil hydrolysis/transesterification processes, lipase activators, biodiesel enzymatic production aids, oil degumming aids

Applicability Principle:  Sodium deoxycholate is a bile salt that emulsifies oil substrates, increases the oil-water interface area, and activates lipases while keeping their active conformation. This ensures good contact between the enzyme and the oil greatly increasing the efficiency of the hydrolysis and the transesterification. It is a widely-used natural enzyme activator in oil enzymatic processing and biodiesel production.

7.Industrial fermentation and cell wall disruption in biomanufacturing (biomanufacturing area) 

Application Field: Industrial Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing

Related Products: Fermentation broth clarification aids, yeast/bacterial intracellular product extraction aids, enzyme preparation production aids, industrial fermentation cell wall disruptors

Applicability Principle: Intracellular enzymes, proteins, polysaccharides and other target substances need to be released after industrial fermentation. Sodium deoxycholate can insert into microbial cell membranes and disrupt membrane structure to achieve mild cell wall lysis. At the same time, it solubilises intracellular proteins to avoid product loss. It offers milder conditions and higher efficiency than mechanical cell disruption and is a commonly used chemical cell wall disruption auxiliary in downstream extraction workflows of biomanufacturing.

8. Templates and dispersants for nanomaterial preparation (new materials field)

Application Field: Nanomaterials Industry and New Materials Industry

Related Products: Template agents for nanoparticle/nanocapsule preparation, nanopowder dispersants, functional coating additives, aids for industrial production of nanocarriers

Applicability Principle: Sodium deoxycholate micelles act as soft templates to control nucleation and morphology of nanomaterials. Owing to its amphiphilic structure, it forms an adsorption layer on particle surfaces to generate steric hindrance and electrostatic repulsion, preventing nanopowder agglomeration and securing stable dispersion of nanomaterials in industrial products such as coatings, catalysts and functional films.

9.Wetting agents for electroplating and metal surface treatment (surface treatment field) 

Application Field: Electroplating and Metal Surface Treatment Industries

Related Products: Wetting agents for electroplating solutions, pickling corrosion inhibitors, phosphating aids, metal surface pretreatment solutions

Applicability Principle: Electroplating and pickling use surfactants to reduce the interfacial tension between the plating solution and the workpiece to remove pinholes and gas spots and improve coating uniformity. Sodium deoxycholate's wetting and emulsifying properties help pickling solutions to penetrate oily layers and assist in degreasing and rust removal, making it an auxiliary surfactant in metal surface treatment baths.

10.Electrophoresis analysis aids 

Application Area: Biochemical Analyses

Related Products: Electrophoresis-grade sodium deoxycholate (SDC), protein electrophoresis sample preparation reagents

Applicability Principle:Electrophoresis grade sodium deoxycholate (SDC), protein electrophoresis sample prep reagent. Why it is suitable for this application: Electrophoresis grade SDC is very pure and has good batch to batch stability. It can be used as an auxiliary detergent in denaturing/non-denaturing electrophoresis systems. It helps membrane proteins and hydrophobic proteins to stay dissolved during electrophoresis and improves band resolution. This is a specific reagent specification for electrophoretic analysis

11.Food emulsification and stabilisation 

Application Area: Food Industry

Related Products: Dairy beverages, functional beverages, emulsified oil products, food emulsifier formulations

Applicability Principle: Sodium deoxycholate is a naturally derived emulsifier. It rapidly adsorbs at the oil-water interface to form a stable interfacial film, reduce interfacial tension, and prevent oil-water separation, ensuring stability and homogeneity of oil-containing food systems. It fits the market trend for "naturally derived" food ingredients and can improve flavour and stability. (Food-grade usage must comply with relevant food additive regulations.)

12.Emulsification and solubilization for cosmetics 

Application Area: Daily chemical and personal care fields

Related Products: Emulsifiers and solubilizers in facial cleansers, makeup removers, skin lotions and serums

Applicability Principle: Sodium deoxycholate delivers emulsifying, solubilising and mild cleansing performance. It can solubilise oily ingredients (essential oils, fat-soluble active substances) in water-based formulas and stabilise lotion texture. In addition, it has good biocompatibility and low irritation, suitable for formulation of gentle facial cleansers, makeup removers and skincare products.

To summarise, sodium deoxycholate (CAS 302-95-4) is a naturally occurring anionic bile acid surfactant. It has formed a complete product system covering more than thirty mature applications across four major segments: industry, scientific research (western blot, nucleic acid extraction, chromatography, culture media, diagnostic reagents, cell nucleus separation, enzymology, electrophoresis, etc.), food (emulsion stabilisation), and daily chemicals (emulsion and solubilisation). It functions through five core mechanisms: planar amphiphilicity, membrane dissolution, protein solubilization, emulsion stabilisation and micellar solubilization. Benefiting from natural origin, biodegradability, and excellent biocompatibility, it is one of the most widely used bile acid derivatives.