The synthesis and surface active properties of certain amphoteric compounds

Abstract

AbstractIn order to gain some insight into the correlation between chemical structure and surface active properties, a number of amphoteric surface active agents were synthesized. All of these compounds possessed both a quaternary ammonium group and an anionic functional group. The anionic functional group was either a carboxylate, sulfonate, or a sulfate group. The molecules possessed either one or two fat‐derived long chains.In general, the detergency of the single chain compounds was superior to that of the double chain compounds. On the other hand, the double chain compounds showed better fabric softening than single chain compounds. The compatibility with anionic and non‐ionic detergents and soap was also studied. It was observed that there were considerable variations in the degree of compatibility with respect to detergency. In general, anionics of the alkylaryl sulfonate type and soap are incompatible with these amphoterics, while non‐ionics appear to be more compatible.