Microwave Assisted Synthesis of Cationic Amino Sugar Surfactants

Abstract

Abstract Chitosan is an abundant and renewable natural biopolymer which exhibits a variety of beneficial properties. Quaternized chitosan compound was extensively studied as an antistatic agent in cosmetics and hair care products such as in hair conditioners and fabric softeners. However, the low solubility of chitosan in water limits its applications. This paper describes a novel way to synthesize quaternized derivatives which were further used as cationic amino sugar based surfactants. The quaternized derivatives of chitosan were synthesized and characterized on the basis of various properties. The resulting derivatives have excellent solubilities in aqueous solutions. In the present work the cationic quaternized surfactants were synthesized under microwave irradiation. Compared to a conventional synthesis the compound N,N,N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) was obtained with higher yield from the reaction between chitosan and methyl iodide using N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as a solvent. We also synthesized it by adding dimethyl sulfate (DMS) under conventional as well as microwave irradiation method. The characterization of the quaternized derivatives of chitosan was done by FTIR spectra, 1H NMR, TLC and XRD analysis. Thus, a cationic amino sugar surfactant using a biopolymer was successfully synthesized under microwave irradiation with an efficient yield.