Abstract
Cationic gemini surfactants are an important class of surface-active compounds that exhibit much higher surface activity than their monomeric counterparts. This type of compound architecture lends itself to the compound being easily adsorbed at interfaces and interacting with the cellular membranes of microorganisms. Conventional cationic surfactants have high chemical stability but poor chemical and biological degradability. One of the main approaches to the design of readily biodegradable and environmentally friendly surfactants involves inserting a bond with limited stability into the surfactant molecule to give a cleavable surfactant. The best-known example of such a compound is the family of ester quats, which are cationic surfactants with a labile ester bond inserted into the molecule. As part of this study, a series of gemini ester quat surfactants were synthesized and assayed for their biological activity. Their hemolytic activity and changes in the fluidity and packing order of the lipid polar heads were used as the measures of their biological activity. A clear correlation between the hemolytic activity of the tested compounds and their alkyl chain length was established. It was found that the compounds with a long hydrocarbon chain showed higher activity. Moreover, the compounds with greater spacing between their alkyl chains were more active. This proves that they incorporate more easily into the lipid bilayer of the erythrocyte membrane and affect its properties to a greater extent. A better understanding of the process of cell lysis by surfactants and of their biological activity may assist in developing surfactants with enhanced selectivity and in widening their range of application.
Highlights
The designing of novel surfactants with higher efficiency and specific properties for targeted applications is of great fundamental and practical importance
As part of our research, we investigated hemolytic activity and erythrocyte membrane fluidity in the presence of synthesized gemini ester quats
When incorporated into the membrane, the compounds with longer chains weaken the interaction between the lipid molecules, causing a disturbance in erythrocyte membrane structure leading to hemolysis
Summary
The designing of novel surfactants with higher efficiency and specific properties for targeted applications is of great fundamental and practical importance. Various surfactant architectures have been described in recent literature [1,2,3], including a composition featuring two monomeric surfactant molecules chemically bonded together by a spacer group These so-called cationic gemini or dimeric cationic surfactants constitute an important class of surface-active compounds [4,5,6,7]. They show physicochemical properties that are similar to those of conventional cationic surfactants, but are more environmentally friendly and less toxic Another approach in the design of biodegradable surfactants is to insert a bond with limited stability (the so-called labile) between the polar head group and the hydrophobic tail of the surfactant. The obtained results were compared with those for the corresponding monomeric surfactant
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