NEW PSEUDOCERAMIDES OBTAINED BY COMBINATI ON OF OLEOCHEMICAL SPECIALITIES WITH DERIVATIVES OF CARBOHYDRATES

In the last year lipid scientists paid more and more attention to the structural family of ceramides. After being discovered as an important role among the epidermal lipids in stabilizing the barrier function o f the skin, ceramides found widespread application in skin care produc ts. Their unique structure and variability as well as their strong inf luence on the lamellar liquid crystalline character of the horny layer lipids and thereby on the properties of the horny layer overall are p ointed out. The structure of a ceramide on principle can be considered as a nonionic polar lipid consisting of an amidic hydrophilic central part which is combined with two fatty alkyl chains of different lengt h, In the meantime some pseudoceramides have been prepared based on th is principle, with properties similar to their natural prototypes, but much more inexpensive than those. The utilization of carbohydrate der ivatives is relatively new. Syntheses and properties of some represent ative examples of this type of pseudoceramides are described.