Polyethylene glycol, abbreviated as PEG, is a hydrophilic polymer or oligomer whose chains are made up of monomer units of the formula (-CH2-CH2-O-), with a hydroxyl group (-OH) at each end. Chemically, PEG is a polyether of ethylene glycol. However, the production is by the polymerization of ethylene oxide in the presence of water, ethylene glycol, di- or tri-ethylene glycol. It is also called macrogol in pharmacy. After the name is usually mentioned the average molecular mass, for example Macrogol 400.
PEG exists in different chain lengths: the short chains (several hundred monomers together) are liquid at room temperature, the longer chains (up to ten thousand monomers) are solid at room temperature. Polyethylene glycols with long chains and high molecular masses (more than 35,000) are also called polyethylene oxide, because the role of the hydroxyl groups in these products is negligible.
PEG is a chemically little reactive, non-hazardous substance with many applications in the medical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and other industrial sectors, in cell biology and archaeology.
Technical product information:
Molar massa (M) 380-420 g / mol
Density (D) 1.116 g/cm³
Boiling point (bp) 205.7 °C
Flash point (flp) 138.6 °C
Melting point (mp) <-14.08°C
WGK 1
CAS-nr. [25322-68-3]
EC no. 500-038-2
