Derivation of GCI by Masking Chemical Identity

1. Starting point

The most obvious approach to developing a GCI is to mask some part of the actual chemical name of the CBI ingredient. The choice of the chemical name used as the starting point is often important. It should be unique and unambiguous; i.e. generally, a systematic chemical name should be used. Of the two common systems of nomenclature, the CAS names appear to be more difficult to mask than International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) names. On occasion, non-systematic names such as trivial names may be used for masking purposes.

2. Masking procedure

Masking can be a relatively simple process of substituting or in some cases eliminating part of the starting name.

EXAMPLE 1: The IUPAC name—2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,6-Undecafluoro-N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)hexanamide

A series of masked names or GCIs can be generated, depending on what portion of chemical identity is trade-secret:

1. the position and number of fluorine atoms can be masked using polyfluoro-; or
2. the position, number and type of halogen can be masked using polyhalo-;
3. the parent structure and its primary functional group (hexanamide) can be masked using alkanamide; and
4. the presence and number or other functional groups on the nitrogen may be masked using such phrases as N-bis(hydroxyalkyl), N-bis(alkyl), N-hydroxyalkyl, or more general names such as N-bis(substituted), or N-(substituted). Normally, the presence of an important radical (e.g. amide) should not be masked, nor the fact that all of the hydrogens on the amine have been substituted (hence, “tertiary”). The choices for a GCI (depending on what part(s) of the structure is trade-secret) could range from masking some or most components (e.g. polyfluoro-N,N-bis(hydroxyalkyl)alkanamide or polyfluoro-N-(substituted) alkanamide) to more general names such as N-(substituted) polyhaloalkanamide or polyhaloalkanamide.

EXAMPLE 2: Hydrogenated palm-oil fatty acids, esters with D-Mannitol, ethoxylated

Using the same basic approach, hydrogenation, the type of fatty acids, the Mannitol and/or the ethoxylation could be masked, generating a GCI such as the least specific GCI: hydrogenated fatty acids, esters with polyhydroxyalkane, alkoxylated.

EXAMPLE 3: Sodium dimethylbenzene sulphonate

Using a CAS name, the following parts of the name could be masked: the cation, the specific alkyl and the number of alkyl groups, the aryl group, and—in an extreme case—even the presence of the alkyl group. It should be noted that the parent group, benzene or aryl, must not be dropped from the GCI. Choices for a GCI include dialkylarylsulphonate (salt), alkylarylsulphonate (salt), arylsulphonate (salt).

EXAMPLE 4: 2-Propenoic acid, 3-hydroxypropyl ester, polymer with chloroethene and ethenyl acetate

Since there is no chemical name for the reaction product, the CAS name provides the three precursor ingredients. The GCI should follow the same approach. Substituting a reasonable GCI for each of the precursors, the GCI could be poly(acrylate alkyl ester/chloroalkene/carboxylic acid ester). Where more than one acrylate ester occurs in the polymer, a number in brackets could be used to indicate this fact, preceded by “acrylate esters”.