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Hydroformylation of branched olefins catalyzed by Co2(CO)8 for synthesis of branched alcohol ethoxylates and their surfactant properties

  • Jiawei Zhai

    Jiawei Zhai is an M.D. student at the Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, and his research involves the synthesis and application of fine chemicals.

    , Zexiang Bi

    Zexiang Bi is a Ph.D. student at the Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, and his research involves the synthesis and application of fine chemicals.

    , Geng Chen

    Geng Chen is an M.D. student at the Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, and his research involves 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 his research involves the synthesis and application of fine chemicals.

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    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 won the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. His research involves daily washings.

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Published/Copyright: August 7, 2024
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Abstract

Branched-chain surfactants have lower equilibrium surface tension, superior wettability and emulsifying performance, making them suitable for exclusive applications. Linear α-olefins are rich in coal-based Fischer–Tropsch synthesized liquid products and are promising building blocks for the synthesis of branched-chain surfactants via dimerization and subsequent C=C bond functionalization. Herein, a new series of branched ethoxylate non-ionic surfactants (MDC6E n ) were prepared using 2-butyl-1-octene (1-hexene dimer, DC6), obtained by the dimerization of coal-based Fischer-Tropsch synthesized 1-hexene, as the hydrophobe via hydroxylation and ethoxylation. In particular, the hydroxylation of DC6 was carried out in a one-pot tandem hydroformylation and hydrogenation over unmodified Co2(CO)8 under mild conditions (140 °C and 4–8 MPa, CO:H2 = 1:1). A thorough investigation of their surfactant properties was carried out, including equilibrium surface tension, dynamic surface tension, foaming properties, wetting power, and emulsifying power. The results indicate that MDC6E9 performs comparably to a commercially available branched-chain surfactants, the iso-tridecyl alcohol ethoxylates (MULTISO 1390). This research provides a new direction for the synthesis of branched nonionic surfactants using Fischer–Tropsch synthesized products, further promoting the development of coal-based fine chemicals.


Corresponding authors: Jinxiang Dong and Xu Li, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, Shanxi, China, E-mail: (J. Dong), (X. Li)

Funding source: The National Natural Science Foundation of China

Award Identifier / Grant number: U21A20315, 22078219, and 22378290

About the authors

Jiawei Zhai

Jiawei Zhai is an M.D. student at the Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, and his research involves the synthesis and application of fine chemicals.

Zexiang Bi

Zexiang Bi is a Ph.D. student at the Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, and his research involves the synthesis and application of fine chemicals.

Geng Chen

Geng Chen is an M.D. student at the Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chemical Product Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, and his research involves 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 his research involves 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 won the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. His research involves daily washings.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

  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: The National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant numbers: U21A20315, 22078219, and 22378290) and the Fund for Shanxi “1,331” Project.

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

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/tsd-2024-2598).


Received: 2024-04-13
Accepted: 2024-07-11
Published Online: 2024-08-07
Published in Print: 2024-09-25

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