Isethionic acid is a short chain alkane

Alkane

Alkanes are chemical compounds that consist only of hydrogen and carbon atoms and are bonded exclusively by single bonds without any cycles...

 sulfonic acid

Sulfonic acid

Sulfonic acid usually refers to a member of the class of organosulfur compounds with the general formula RS2–OH, where R is an alkyl or aryl. The formal part of acid, HS2–OH, are formally derivatives of the "parent" inorganic compound with the formula HSO2.-Preparation:Sulfonic acid is...

 containing hydroxy group

Hydroxyl

A hydroxyl is a chemical group containing an oxygen atom covalently bonded with a hydrogen atom. In inorganic chemistry, the hydroxyl group is known as the hydroxide ion, and scientists and reference works generally use these different terms though they refer to the same chemical structure in...

, is a water soluble

Solubility

Solubility is the property of a solid, liquid, or gaseous chemical substance called solute to dissolve in a solid, liquid, or gaseous solvent to form a homogeneous solution of the solute in the solvent. The solubility of a substance fundamentally depends on the used solvent as well as on...

 solid used in the manufacture of mild, biodegradable and high foaming anionic surfactant

Surfactant

Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, the interfacial tension between two liquids, or that between a liquid and a solid...

s for skin cleansing.

The antimicrobial

Antimicrobial

An anti-microbial is a substance that kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans. Antimicrobial drugs either kill microbes or prevent the growth of microbes...

s hexamidine

Hexamidine

Hexamidine is an antiseptic/disinfectant.Hexomedine is a diisethionate solution of hexamidine....

 and pentamidine

Pentamidine

Pentamidine is an antimicrobial medication given for prevention and treatment of Pneumocystis pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis jirovecii , a severe interstitial type of pneumonia often seen in patients with HIV infection...

 are available as diisethionates.

Synthetic isethionic acid is obtained from the reaction of ethylene oxide

Ethylene oxide

Ethylene oxide, also called oxirane, is the organic compound with the formula . It is a cyclic ether. This means that it is composed of two alkyl groups attached to an oxygen atom in a cyclic shape . This colorless flammable gas with a faintly sweet odor is the simplest epoxide, a three-membered...

 with aqueous sodium bisulfite

Sodium bisulfite

Sodium bisulfite is a chemical compound with the chemical formula NaHSO3. Sodium bisulfite is a food additive with E number E222. This salt of bisulfite can be prepared by bubbling sulfur dioxide in a solution of sodium carbonate in water...

, and is used for the industrial production of taurine.

Biological importance

Studies made on dog heart slices suggested that heart tissue may be capable of converting taurine to isethionic acid, further experiments demonstrated that this tissue may synthetize taurine from cystine

Cystine

Cystine is a dimeric amino acid formed by the oxidation of two cysteine residues that covalently link to make a disulfide bond. This organosulfur compound has the formula 2. It is a white solid, and melts at 247-249 °C...

.