Effect of Alternation of Chloropropoxy and Propoxy Units and Impact of the Ethylol-Group Number on Properties of Surfactants

Surfactants based on myristic acid, epichlorohydrin, and propylene oxide were obtained in two ways. First, the ester of myristic acid and epichlorohydrin was synthesised, and then with propylene oxide. Second, myristic acid was first reacted with propylene oxide, and then with epichlorohydrin. In both cases, the reactions were carried out at 150-160°C using triethylamine as a catalyst. The obtained chloropropoxy-propoxy and propoxy-chloropropoxy esters of myristic acid are non-ionic surfactants. These products were transformed into cationic surfactants by interaction with several ethanolamines. The specific electroconductance and surface activity of the obtained surfactants, characters that vary with the colloidal-chemical parameters of the surfactants, depended on such factors as the sequence of the epichlorohydrin and propylene oxide units inside the polar group of the obtained ionic surfactants, the presence of the methyl group linked to the N-atom, as well as the number of ethylol groups. It was revealed that the synthesised surfactants possess a property of localising thin (thickness <1 mm) petroleum films spread over different types of water. © CSIRO.