N-Geranylated Amino Acid Surfactants with Low Critical Micelle Concentrations from Abundant, Naturally Derived Starting Materials.

ABSTRACT: In this work, a simple method for the preparation of N-alkylated amino acid surfactants in 1-2 steps is reported. These products perform comparably to existing ionic surfactants, with N-tetrahydrogeranylated serine having a critical micelle concentration (CMC) of only 7.4 mmol·L^-1. The suite of multiply charged surfactants generally possesses CMCs comparable to existing ionic surfactants. Further, their synthesis is simple, high-yielding, scalable, and does not require complex purification. The most hydrophobic surfactant (N-geranylated glycine) was found to have a log n-octanol-water partition coefficient (P_ow) of 1.6 (indicating low bioaccumulative potential), and a single-step product (N-geranylated aspartic acid) was assessed for detergency potential via swatch te

SUBMITTER: Pollard BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12680550 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature