Gemini surfactants are composed of two hydrocarbon tails with corresponding polar headgroups, linked via a covalent spacer. The synthesis of these surfactants is a very active area of research due to their application as catalysts and other applied areas of study. The modification of green microwave techniques developed in our research on ionic liquids has resulted in the significant improvement of the synthesis of N,N ′-bis(dimethylalkyl)-α,ω-alkanediammonium dibromide (m–s–m type) symmetrical gemini surfactants. This approach utilizes a remarkably more economical, green, and sustainable methodology for the production of symmetrical gemini surfactants that can be utilized in numerous commercial applications. The improved synthetic approach of these gemini surfactants has led to the characterization of their crystalline packing for the first time ever using X-ray crystallographic analysis.

Thermodynamics of partitioning of primary alcohols in solutions containing aggregates of symmetric gemini surfactants, determined from diffusion NMR, surprisingly shows little dependence on the spacer length of the gemini amphiphile.