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Synthesis and surface properties of branched-chain tertiary fatty alcohol sulfate surfactants

  • Qian Wang

    Qian Wang is a M.D. student at the Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, working on the synthesis and application of fine chemicals.

    , Xu Li

    Xu Li is a lecturer at the Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, and conducts research on the synthesis and application of fine chemicals.

    and Jinxiang Dong

    Jinxiang Dong is a professor at the Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology at Taiyuan University of Technology. He has been awarded the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. His research is on dailysparse washing processes.

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Published/Copyright: September 28, 2023
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Abstract

In this paper, anionic branched-chain tertiary fatty alcohol sulfate surfactants were synthesized from n-hexene and n-octene using selective olefin dimerization, hydration reaction (hydroxylation), and sulfur trioxide sulfation. The direct hydration reaction of the α-olefin dimer 2-butyl-1-octene with water as a model reaction was explored for the synthesis of branched-chain tertiary fatty alcohols. Two branched-chain tertiary fatty alcohol sulfate surfactants, namely C12-SBTAS and C16-SBTAS, with different carbon chain lengths, were synthesized by the sulfur trioxide sulfation method. Their structures were confirmed by various analytical techniques, including HPLC, FT-IR, HR-MS, and 1H NMR. Equilibrium and dynamic surface tension, foaming, wetting, and emulsifying properties were compared with those of Guerbet cetyl alcohol sulfate (C16-SGAS). C12-SBTAS and C16-SBTAS exhibited good surface activity with equilibrium surface tension (γ CMC) values of 27.41 mN m−1 and 26.69 mN m−1, respectively. They also had low foaming and rapid defoaming abilities, as well as good wetting and emulsifying properties, which match the application characteristics of typical branched-chain surfactants.


Corresponding author: Jinxiang Dong, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, Shanxi, China; and School of Chemical Engineering and Light Industry, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong, China, E-mail:

About the authors

Qian Wang

Qian Wang is a M.D. student at the Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, working on the synthesis and application of fine chemicals.

Xu Li

Xu Li is a lecturer at the Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, and conducts research on the synthesis and application of fine chemicals.

Jinxiang Dong

Jinxiang Dong is a professor at the Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology at Taiyuan University of Technology. He has been awarded the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. His research is on dailysparse washing processes.

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Research funding: We thankfully acknowledge the generous financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant numbers. U21A20315, 22078219) and the Fund for Shanxi “1331” Project.

  5. Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.

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Received: 2023-06-01
Accepted: 2023-07-10
Published Online: 2023-09-28
Published in Print: 2023-11-27

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