| Abstract: | Glycolipid biosurfactants possess excellent surfactant properties and can be useful model compounds for the synthesis of surfactants from materials available in large quantities. The incorporation of a long, branched alkyl group, which is a feature of glycolipids, into a synthetic surfactant was achieved by the transesterification of sucrose with the methyl ester of a selected telomer monocarboxylic acid mixture, in a solution reaction. Characterisation showed the product to be a mixture of mono- and diesters each comprising a different ratio of linear to branched alkyl chains in the substituted group. Surfactant properties of the mixture, and the chromatographically-separated components, when evaluated in both distilled water and a salt solution, were found to be superior to a range of sucrose stearates. In addition the biosurfactant analogues were found to be more effective than surfactants derived from β-keto alkyl esters of various sugars (including sucrose) but were not as efficient as these latter compounds. |
