| abstract |
The photostabilizing electronic excited state energy—particularly singlet state energy from retinoid compounds—has been found to be readily transferred to (accepted by) α-cyanodiphenylacrylate compounds having an alkoxy radical in the four (para) position (hereinafter “alkoxycrylenes”) on one of the phenyl rings having the formula (I): n n n n n n n n n n wherein one of R 1 and R 2 is a straight or branched chain C 1 -C 30 alkoxy radical, preferably C 1 -C 8 , more preferably methoxy, and the non-alkoxy radical R 1 or R 2 is hydrogen; and R 3 is a straight or branched chain C 1 -C 30 alkyl radical, preferably C 2 -C 20 . The alkoxycrylene compounds of formula (I) significantly increase the photostability of retinoid compounds in a composition by at least 3-fold and as much as 10-fold or greater. The ability of the alkoxycrylene compounds to stabilize the retinoid compound is concentration dependent, with the amount of retinoid photostabilization increasing with the concentration of the alkoxycrylene compound. |