Synthesis and Properties of Anionic Surfactants Containing Oxyethylene Group or/and Branched Tail

Abstract

Using Guerbet tetradecyl alcohol C₁₄GA (synthesized by Guerbet reaction using 1-heptanol as raw material) as intermediate, sodium Guerbet tetradecyl polyoxyethylene ether sulfates [C₁₄GA(EO)_nS, n = 1, 2, 4] were obtained through following steps: synthesizing Guerbet tetradecyl polyoxyethylene ether alcohols [C₁₄GA(EO)_nH, n = 1, 2, 4] by Williamson reaction, then esterifying with chlorosulfonic acid so as to form Guerbet tetradecyl polyoxyethylene ether alcohol sulfates [C₁₄GA(EO)_nSO₃H, n = 1, 2, 4], and finally neutralizing with sodium hydroxide; while sodium Guerbet tetradecyl sulfate(C₁₄GAS) was synthesized only through esterifying and neutralizing reactions. The structures of these anionic surfactants were determined by infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, and element analysis. The surface activity of these surfactants was studied by means of surface tension. The results have shown that these surfactants possess higher surface activity than the common surfactant C₁₂H₂₅OSO₃Na. Branched-tail structure coming from Guerbet alcohol makes the anionic surfactant (C₁₄GAS) have higher critical micelle concentration (CMC) and better effectiveness in lowering the interface tension between air and water than their linear counterpart (C₁₄H₂₉OSO₃Na). Introducing oxyethyene group into the place between head group and tail group of the surfactant molecule with branched tail can lower the CMC, γ_cmc, and Krafft point. And the effectiveness for reducing the CMC, γ_cmc, Γ_max, and Krafft point of surfactant increased with the increase of oxyethylene group number (n = 1, 2, 4). The relationship between the molecular structure and surface activity of surfactant is discussed.

Keywords:

• Alkyl polyoxyethylene ether sulfate
• CMC
• Guerbet reaction
• surface tension
• surfactant

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the National Science & Technology major project (2008ZX05011), the National High Technology Research and Development Program (2008AA092801), and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJCX1-YW-21-03).