Abstract
The reaction of hydroxycarboxylic acids, such as citric, malic and tartaric species with an excess of fatty acid chlorides produces the corresponding O-acylated hydroxycarboxylic anhydrides in one step and in a near quantitative yield. These molecules are excellent electrophiles which react readily with a variety of nucleophiles including alcohols, diols and polyols. Their reaction with triethylene glycol and triethylene glycol monomethyl ether leads to two series of novel anionic surfactants, which are unsymmetrical gemini surfactants. The determination of their properties (CMC, foaming, HLB) revealed that these molecules are-depending on the chain length of the fatty acid-excellent emulsifiers, and that they also display interesting antimicrobial activity. These novel functional surfactants are of interest for applications in food and personal care products and for the formulation of pharmaceuticals.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 399-407 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Surfactants and Detergents |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Oct 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Anionic surfactants
- Foaming properties
- Gemini surfactants
- Surface activity
- Synthesis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemical Engineering
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films