Octoxynol-9 and spermicide question.

General Questions
#1

I’m doing a biochemistry class in GERI, a program for “gifted kids.” My project for the class is an experiment and comparison on spermicides. I’m doing my best to find various facts about the three main kinds of spermicides, Octoxynol-9, Nonoxynol 9, and Benzalkonium Chloride, and I can not for the life of me find the formula (or any other information for that matter) of Octoxynol-9. I found this web site: http://ctd.mdibl.org/voc.go;jsessionid=FD8A1E9B6A62AB298F0B72049EB125AF?voc=chem&acc=D017830

But I’m not well versed enough in chemistry to combine all those chemical groups into one big chemical formula. I don’t know how to arrange them in the right format. If anyone could help me, it would be appreciated.

#2

If I’m reading this entry correctly, Octoxynol-9 is nothing other than the common surfactant Triton X-100 (or X-45 or X-102).
Although the Wiki article gives a rough formula for Triton X-100, the truth is that it’s actually a mixture of compounds that differ in the length of their ethylene oxide chains.

The material is named according to the stoichiometric ratio of the materials used to produce it, rather than a precise chemical structure. [Most commercial Sodium dodecyl sulfate also contains a mixture of different chain lengths, although manufacturers don’t trumpet that fact, and the variations are irrelevant to most applications]

Upshot: You’ll not find a precise chemical definition of Octoxynol-9. However, searches on ‘“triton x-100” spermicide’ will probably give you the other information you want anyway.

#3

IANAC, nor do I play one on TV, but does this mean anything to you?

#4

Oops. Try this instead.

#5

Dammit.

http://ctd.mdibl.org/voc.go;jsessionid=FD8A1E9B6A62AB298F0B72049EB125AF?voc=chem&acc=D017830