Preparation and properties of new tetrafunctional amphoteric surfactants bearing amino, carboxyl, and hydroxyl groups and an ether bond

Abstract

New amphoteric surfactants of N-(3-alkoxy-2hydroxypropyl)-N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-β-alanine (APA) have been synthesized. The fundamental surface-active properties (critical micelle concentration and isoelectric point) and hemolysis tests were also investigated to examine the effects of differences in chain length of the alkoxy moiety. The hemolysis result of APA exhibited low constant values irrespective of the alkyl chain length. The amphoteric APA surfactant was confirmed to have a mild effect on human microorganisms and to possess excellent surface-active properties. In addition, a speculative model of micelle configuration was estimated by semiempirical molecular orbital simulations.Paper no. S1322 in JSD 6, 131-136 (April 2003). micelle concentration; HD 50 , concentration of surfactant required to hemolyze 50% of erythrocytes; Na-APA, sodium salt of APA; Na-HAA, N-(2-hydroxyalkyl)-N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-β-alanine sodium salt.