Surface and Biological Activity of Some Prepared Quaternary Ammonium Surfactants

Abstract

This work investigates the reaction of decyl, dodecyl, and tetradecyl amine with sulphouric acid to produce a quaternary ammonium salt, which consequently converted to copper and cobalt cationic complexes via complexing with copper(II) or cobalt(II) ions. The surface properties studied include critical micelle concentration (CMC), maximum surface excess (Γ_max), minimum surface area (A_min), free energies of micellization and adsorption . The interfacial activity (I_activ.), which is expressed by physicochemical parameter /A_min, was calculated. Antimicrobial activity was determined via the inhibition zone diameter of the prepared compounds, which measured against five strains of group of microorganisms. Antitumor activity for some of these compounds was tested by using Ehrlich Acites Carcinoma (EAC) as a model system of mice cell tumor. Some of these compounds were also tested in vitro on human five monolayer tumor cell lines: MCF₇ (breast carcinoma), HEPG₂ (liver carcinoma), U₂₅₁ (brain tumor), HCT₁₁₆ (colon carcinoma), and H₄₆₀ (lung carcinoma). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra, elemental analysis, and nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) spectrum were performed to insure the purity of the prepared compounds.

Keywords:

• Antibacterial activity
• antitumor activity
• cationic surfactant
• critical micelle concentration
• the interfacial activity (I_activ)