Structure and Biological Behaviors of Some Metallo Cationic Surfactants

In this study, different cationic surfactants were prepared by esterification with bromoacetic acid of different fatty alcohols, i.e., dodecyl, tetradecyl and hexadecyl species. The products were then reacted with diphenyl amine, and the resulting tertiary amines were quaternized with benzyl chloride to produce a series of quaternary ammonium salts. The metallocationic surfactants were prepared by complexing the cationic surfactants with nickel and copper chlorides. Surface tension of these surfactants were investigated at different temperatures. The surface parameters including critical micelle concentration (CMC), maximum surface excess (Γ _max), minimum surface area (A _min), efficiency (PC₂₀) and effectiveness (π _CMC) were studied. The thermodynamic parameters such as the free energy of micellization ( $\Updelta G_{\text{mic}}^{^\circ }$ ) and adsorption ( $\Updelta G_{\text{ads}}^{^\circ }$ ), enthalpy ( $\Updelta H_{\text{m}}^{^\circ }$ ), ( $\Updelta H_{\text{ads}}^{^\circ }$ ) and entropy ( $\Updelta S_{\text{m}}^{^\circ }$ ), ( $\Updelta S_{\text{ads}}^{^\circ }$ ) were calculated. FTIR spectra and ¹H-NMR spectra were obtained to confirm the compound structures and purity. In addition, the antimicrobial activities were determined via the inhibition zone diameter of the prepared compounds, which were measured against six strains of a representative group of microorganisms. The results indicate that these metallocationic surfactants exhibit good surface properties and good biological activity on a broad spectrum of microorganisms.