Synthesis and surface properties of anionic gemini surfactants with amide groups

Novel anionic gemini surfactants, 1,2-bis(N-beta-carboxypropanoyl-N-alkylamino)ethane (2CnenAm; n is hydrocarbon chain length of 6, 8, 10, 12, or 14), with two hydrocarbon chains, two carboxylate groups, and two amide groups, were synthesized by three-step reactions. Their solution properties were characterized by equilibrium and dynamic surface tension, steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy of pyrene, and dynamic light-scattering techniques. The surface tension measurements of 2CnenAm give low critical micelle concentrations (cmc), great efficiency in lowering the surface tension, and strong adsorption at air/water interface. Gemini surfactants behave normally with the logarithm of cmc decrease linearly with the chain length. In addition, adsorption and micellization behavior of 2CnenAm was estimated by parameter of pC20, cmc/C20, and standard free energy (DeltaG(0)mic and DeltaG(0)ads); they are significantly influenced by hydrocarbon chain length, and the adsorption is promoted more than the micellization as chain length becomes longer. The results of dynamic light-scattering and fluorescence quenching indicate that small micelles of 2CnenAm are observed at the concentrations above the cmc, and further large particles are also seen. Further, from the dynamic surface tension measurements, it is found that the shorter hydrocarbon chain length of 2CnenAm, the faster the rate of decrease of surface tension.     

Physicochemical properties of quaternary ammonium bromide-type trimeric surfactants

Trimeric surfactants of quaternary ammonium bromide (m-2-m-2-m, where m is the hydrocarbon chain length of 8, 10, or 12) with three hydrocarbon chains and three hydrophilic groups connected by two ethylene spacer chains were synthesized by the reaction of N,N,N',N",N"-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine and the corresponding alkyl bromide. Their physicochemical properties were characterized by surface tension, static and dynamic light-scattering, and fluorescence spectrum of pyrene techniques. The critical micelle concentrations (cmc's) of m-2-m-2-m shifted to lower concentrations with increasing hydrocarbon chain length, and their values were smaller by about one to three orders of magnitude than those of the corresponding dimeric (m-2-m) and monomeric surfactants (C(m)TAB) with the same hydrocarbon chain length. Of these surfactants, 10-2-10-2-10 showed the greatest efficiency in lowering the surface tension and provided the smallest occupied area per molecule, indicating that it adsorbs more compactly at the air/water interface. In addition, from the static and dynamic light-scattering measurements, the aggregation numbers of the trimeric surfactants at the cmc were very small, and two hydrodynamic diameters above the cmc were observed.     

Supra-long chain surfactants with double or triple quaternary ammonium headgroups

Novel supra-long chain surfactants with double or triple quaternary ammonium salts (C(n)-2Am, C(n)-3Am, in which n represents a hydrocarbon chain length of 18, 20, and 22) were synthesized, and electrical conductivity and surface tension were used to characterize their properties depending on both the hydrocarbon chain length and number of hydrophilic groups. The Krafft temperatures decreased remarkably with an increase in the quaternary ammonium headgroups, resulting in a high solubility in water. The critical micelle concentration (cmc) increased with an increase in the number of quaternary ammonium moieties in the hydrophilic group, and the difference in the cmc was smaller for C(n)-2Am and C(n)-3Am than for C(n)-2Am and C(n)-Am of alkyltrimethylammonium bromide. The surface tension at the cmc was approximately 45 and 48 mN m(-1) for C(n)-2Am and C(n)-3Am with n=18-22, respectively. This indicated that the supra-long chain surfactants could not efficiently adsorb at the air/water interface and orient by themselves, as is known for conventional surfactants.     

Adsorption and aggregation properties of heterogemini surfactants containing a quaternary ammonium salt and a sugar moiety

A novel heterogemini surfactant comprising two hydrocarbon chains and two different hydrophilic groups such as a quaternary ammonium cation and gluconamide nonion N,N-dimethyl-N-[2-(N'-alkyl-N'-gluconamide)ethyl]-1-alkylammonium bromides (2CnAmGlu, where n represents hydrocarbon chain lengths of 8, 10, 12, and 14) was synthesized by reacting N,N-dimethylethylenediamine with alkyl bromide, followed by a reaction with 1,5-D(+)-gluconolactone. The adsorption properties of 2CnAmGlu were characterized by surface tension measurements made using the Wilhelmy plate method, and their aggregation properties were investigated by dynamic light scattering and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy techniques. The relationship between the hydrocarbon chain length and the logarithm of the critical micelle concentration (cmc) for 2CnAmGlu exhibited a linear decrease when the chain length was increased up to 12 and then a departure from linearity at n=14. The surface tension reached 24-26 mN m-1 at each cmc, indicating high efficiency in lowering the surface tension of water. Furthermore, it was found that the structure of the aggregate formed for 2CnAmGlu in solution was influenced by the hydrocarbon chain length; that is, for n=10 and 12, micelles with a hydrodynamic radius of 2-5 nm were formed, whereas vesicles were also observed for n=14.     

Adsorption and Micellization Properties of Novel Heterodouble‐Chained N‐Acyltaurate Surfactants

A set of heterodouble‐chained N‐acyltaurate surfactants (abbreviated as m+nP‐T, where m and n were carbon numbers of alkyl chain; P was phenyl; T was taurate) were synthesized. The novel amphiphiles contained sodium taurine as hydrophilic moiety and two different hydrocarbon chains as hydrophobic moiety. One was a long alkyl chain, and the other had an aromatic residue. Their surface properties were determined by Wilhelmy‐plate method, and micellization properties were investigated by fluorescence spectra of extrinsic probe and intrinsic probe. It was found that these surfactants showed some aberrant properties. It was difficult to obtain the equilibrium surface tension and critical micelle concentration (cmc) for the surfactants with two long chains. Pyrene was solubilized in micelle at concentration above cmc, and the fluorescent intensity ratio of the first vibronic peak (373 nm) to the third vibronic peak (383 nm) of pyrene decreased gradually. The aggregation number N, characterized by quenching the phenoxyl residue with methyl viologen (MV²⁺) as the extrinsic quencher, gradually increased with increasing surfactant concentration. These indicated that more and more molecules packed in a micelle with increasing concentration.     

Adsorption and micellization behavior of novel gluconamide-type gemini surfactants

The adsorption and micellization behavior of novel sugar-based gemini surfactants (N,N(')-dialkyl-N,N(')-digluconamide ethylenediamine, Glu(n)-2-Glu(n), where n is the hydrocarbon chain length of 8, 10 and 12) has been studied on the basis of static/dynamic surface tension, fluorescence, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and cryogenic transmission electron microscope (cryo-TEM) data. The static surface tension of the aqueous Glu(n)-2-Glu(n) solutions measured at the critical micelle concentration (cmc) is observed to be significantly lower than that of the corresponding monomeric surfactants. This suggests that the gemini surfactants, newly synthesized in the current study, are able to form a closely packed monolayer film at the air/aqueous solution interface. The greater ability in the molecular association is supported by the remarkably (approximately 100-200 times) lower cmc of the gemini surfactants compared with the corresponding monomeric ones. With a combination of the fluorescence and DLS data, a structural transformation of the Glu(n)-2-Glu(n) micelles is suggested to occur with an increase in the concentration. The cryo-TEM measurements clearly confirm the formation of worm-like micelles of Glu(12)-2-Glu(12) at the concentration well above the cmc.     

Sugar-based gemini surfactants with peptide bonds-synthesis, adsorption, micellization, and biodegradability

The sugar-based gemini surfactant with peptide bonds, N,N'-bisalkyl-N,N'-bis[2-(lactobionylamide)ethyl]hexanediamide (2C(n)peLac, in which n represents hydrocarbon chain lengths of 12 and 16), was synthesized by reacting adipoyl chloride with the corresponding monomeric surfactant N-alkyl-N'-lactobionylethylenediamine (C(n)peLac), which was obtained by reacting ethylenediamine with alkyl bromide and lactobionic acid. The adsorption and micellization properties of C(n)peLac and 2C(n)peLac were characterized by the measurement of their equilibrium and dynamic surface tension, steady-state fluorescence using pyrene as a probe, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and time-resolved fluorescence quenching (TRFQ), and their biodegradability was also investigated. The critical micelle concentration (cmc) decreases with an increase in the hydrocarbon chains from monomeric to gemini surfactants, whereas it increases with an increase in the chain length from 12 to 16 for both systems. The increases in both the hydrocarbon chain and the chain length of sugar-based surfactants reduce surface activities such as the ability to lower the surface tension, the occupied area per molecule, and the adsorption rate at the air/water interface. The sugar-based surfactants C(n)peLac and 2C(n)peLac exhibit unique aggregation behavior in aqueous solution. The DLS results indicate that the apparent hydrodynamic diameter of C(n)peLac micelles decreases sharply with increasing concentration, whereas that of 2C(n)peLac micelles decreases gradually. From the TRFQ measurement, it was observed that, as concentration increases, the aggregation numbers are almost constant for C(n)peLac, whereas they increase for 2C(n)peLac. These results imply that loosely packed micelles formed by sugar-based surfactants become tightly packed micelles as the concentration increases. Furthermore, it was found that 2C(n)peLac shows lower biodegradability than does C(n)peLac because it contains tertiary amines in the molecule.     

Equilibrium and dynamic surface tension properties of partially fluorinated quaternary ammonium salt gemini surfactants

The equilibrium and dynamic surface tension properties of a partially fluorinated quaternary ammonium salt gemini surfactant 1,2-bis[dimethyl-(3-perfluoroalkyl-2-hydroxypropyl)ammonium]ethane bromide (C(n)(F)C3-2-C3C(n)F, where n represents fluorocarbon chain lengths of 4, 6, and 8) were investigated, and the effects of the fluorocarbon chain length and the number of chains on them were discussed. The plot of the logarithm of the critical micelle concentration (cmc) against the fluorocarbon chain length for C(n)(F)C3-2-C3C(n)F showed a linear decrease with an increase in chain length. On the basis of the slope of this plot, it was found that the variation in cmc with respect to the chain length is large for fluorinated gemini surfactants. The surface tension at the cmc decreased significantly; this surface tension value is lower than that of conventional fluorinated monomeric surfactants. In particular, the lowest value was 13.7 mN m(-1) for n = 8. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the kinetics of adsorption at the interface decrease with an increase in the fluorocarbon chain length and the concentration.     

Synthesis and Properties of Aromatic Side Chained N‐Acyltaurate Surfactants

A series of anionic N‐acyltaurate surfactants, side chain containing aromatic nucleus (abbreviated as SAATT), were synthesized via Williamson reaction, hydrolyzation, and acylation. Krafft temperatures and surface properties of these surfactants at 30°C, that is, critical micelle concentration, cmc, surface excess concentration, Γ_max, surface area demand per molecule, A _min, efficiency in surface tension reduction, pC₂₀, effectiveness in surface tension reduction, π_cmc, and cmc/C₂₀ parameter were determined. It was shown that these surfactants exhibit good solubility which was confirmed by measuring Krafft temperature. The cmc of SAATT was much smaller than that of conventional surfactants with similar effective carbon numbers, and shifted to lower concentration with increasing hydrocarbon chain length. In addition, the γ_cmc decreased with decrease in Γ_max. The pC₂₀ and the cmc/C₂₀ got larger with the increase in hydrocarbon chain length. From the fluorescence intensity ratios of I ₁ (373 nm) and I ₃ (384 nm) using pyrene as a probe, it was indicated that the molecules of SAATT formed loose micelles with a broad size distribution.     

Distribution of fluorocarbon quencher among micelles via pyrene fluorescence probe method

 Fluorescence-quenching of pyrene in micellar system has been investigated using 1,1,2,2-tetrahydroheptadecafluorodecylpyridinium chloride (HFDePC). The new fluorocarbon quencher has a similar quenching ability as hexadecyl-pyridinium chloride (CPC) towards pyrene in hydrocarbon micelles if only a quencher molecule is solubilized in a micelle. The fluorocarbon quencher randomly distributed among micelles if the average occupancy number of probes per a micelle was small enough. The fluorescence behavior of pyrene was examined for hexadecyl-trimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) and HFDePC mixtures. The variation of fluorescence intensity gave second cmc, reflecting the micellar immiscibility of fluorocarbon and hydrocarbon surfactants. The second cmc can be simulated by material balances of both surfactants supposing the coexistence of two kinds of mixed micelles. The fluorescence-quenching behavior suggested the enhanced micellar immiscibility probably due to nonrandom distribution of fluorocarbon quenchers among micelles. Received: 13 March 1997 Accepted: 24 May 1997     

Physicochemical properties of quaternized poly(amidoamine) dendrimers with four octyl chains

A cationic dendrimer-type tetrameric surfactant (C(8)qbG0) with four octyl chains and four ammonium groups was synthesized by the reaction of poly(amidoamine) dendrimers with generation of zero and glycidyldimethyloctylammonium bromide. The physicochemical properties of C(8)qbG0 and of their mixtures with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were characterized by investigating surface tension, electrical conductivity, fluorescence of pyrene, and dynamic light-scattering. The critical micelle concentration (cmc) of C(8)qbG0 was 13 mmol dm(-3) at the concentration of one terminal group and the surface tension at the cmc attained 34 mN m(-1). The occupied area of C(8)qbG0 was 1.94 nm(2) molecule(-1), indicating that the tetrameric dendrimers adsorb widely at the air/water interface. The fluorescence intensity ratio of the first-to-third band in the emission spectra of pyrene for C(8)qbG0 decreased from around the cmc obtained by the surface tension measurement. The hydrodynamic radius of C(8)qbG0 determined by dynamic light-scattering was about 1.3 nm. The addition of SDS to the aqueous solutions of C(8)qbG0 enhanced the surface activities; the mixtures exhibited lower cmc, lower surface tension, and higher solubilization of pyrene than SDS alone. It was found that the mixtures of C(8)qbG0 and SDS form large aggregates due to the interactions between their alkyl chains as well as hydrophilic groups.     

Surface adsorption of zwitterionic surfactants: n-alkyl phosphocholines characterised by surface tensiometry and neutron reflection

The surface adsorption of n-dodecyl phosphocholine (C12PC) has been characterised by a combined measurement of surface tension and neutron reflectivity. The critical micellar concentration (CMC) was found to be 0.91 mM at 25 degrees C in pure water. At the CMC, the limiting area per molecule (A(cmc)) was found to be 52+/-3 A2 and the surface tension (gamma(cmc)) to be ca. 40.0+/-0.5 mN/m. The parallel study of chain isomer n-hexadecyl phosphocholine (C16PC) showed a decrease of the CMC to 0.012 mM and a drop of gamma(cmc) to 38.1+/-0.5 mN/m. However, A(cmc) for C16PC was found to be 54+/-3 A2, showing that increase in alkyl chain length by four methylene groups has little effect on A(cmc). The almost constant A(cmc) suggested that the limiting area per molecule was determined by the bulky PC head group. It was further found that the surface tension and related key physical parameters did not vary much with temperature, salt addition, solution pH or any combination of these, thus showing that surface adsorption and solution aggregation from PC surfactants is largely similar to the zwitterionic betaine surfactants and is distinctly different from ionic and non-ionic surfactants. The thickness of the adsorbed monolayers measured from both dC12hPC and dC16hPC was found to be 20-22 A at the CMC from neutron reflectivity. Neither A(cmc) nor layer thickness varied with alkyl chain length, indicating that as the alkyl chain length became longer it was further tilted away from the surface normal direction and the layer packing density increased. It was also observed that the thickness of the layer varied little with surfactant concentration, indicating that the average conformational orientation of the alkyl chain remained unchanged against varying surface coverage.     

Studies of Synthesis and Interfacial Properties of Sodium Branched‐Alkylbenzenesulfonates

Two sodium branched‐alkylbenzensulfonates with additional alkyl substituents were synthesized through a series of reactions. The interfacial tension of these alkylbenzenesulfonates between 1.0% NaCl solution and six n‐alkanes were measured. From the data of measurements the following values were calculated: critical micelle concentration (cmc), the interfacial tension at the cmc (γ_cmc), interfacial excess concentration at the cmc (Γ_m), area per molecule at the cmc (A_m). There were a minimum γ_cmc and a maximum Γ_m appeared for the same n‐alkane with increasing the hydrocarbon chain length of the oil. These indicated that the hydrocarbon chain length of oil have the important effect on adsorption and interfacial tension.     

光敏季铵盐Gemini表面活性剂a4-6-m在气/液界面的吸附

合成了3种不对称结构的季铵盐Gemini表面活性剂a4-6-m, 分子的一根疏水链是偶氮苯为端基的4个亚甲基链, 另一根是不同长度的脂肪链(m=12, 14, 16). 研究结果表明, 反式偶氮苯封端的a4-6-m在气/液界面上以直立方式排列, 偶氮苯端基间的π-π相互作用导致吸附分子较为紧密地排列, 但吸附层外表面含有偶氮苯成分使临界胶束浓度(cmc)时的表面张力(γcmc)较大. 紫外光激发使反式结构偶氮苯变为顺式结构, 这些极性较强的顺式偶氮苯夹杂在直立的烷烃链间, 增强的偶极-偶极相互作用促进了分子紧密排列, 使分子占据面积(Amin)略微减小. 增长脂肪链长度有助于降低临界胶团浓度和C20(使水的表面张力降低20 mN·m-1时所需的表面活性剂浓度), 但对γcmc影响不大.     

反离子对氟表面活性剂的影响1. 表面活性及胶团化作用

通过表面张力和荧光探针法研究了全氟辛酸钠、全氟辛酸铵以及全氟辛酸四烷基铵[C₇F₁₅COON(C_nH_2n+1)₄, n＝1, 2, 3, 4]的表面活性以及胶团化作用, 系统地讨论了各种反离子, 特别是反离子大小的影响. 结果表明, 与普通碳氢表面活性剂不同, 反离子对这类氟表面活性剂的表面活性以及胶团化作用有很大影响. 表面活性剂的临界胶束浓度(cmc)随反离子的增大而下降; 饱和吸附层中平均每个分子所占的面积则大致随反离子的增大而增大. 而表面张力的变化则较为复杂. cmc时的表面张力随反离子的增大先上升(从全氟辛酸铵到全氟辛酸四乙铵)后下降(从全氟辛酸四乙铵到全氟辛酸四丁铵). 通过反离子的空间位阻、疏水性、插入以及电荷屏蔽效应对上述结果做了解释.     

Adsorption and aggregation properties of amino acid-based N-alkyl cysteine monomeric and N,N'-dialkyl cystine gemini surfactants

An amino acid-based gemini surfactant derived from cystine (2CnCys, where n represents the hydrocarbon chain lengths of 8, 10, and 12) was synthesized by reacting cystine with n-alkyl bromide, and its adsorption and aggregation properties were characterized by measurements of equilibrium and dynamic surface tension and dynamic light scattering. The properties of 2CnCys were compared with those of an amino acid-based monomeric surfactant derived from cysteine (CnCys). For n=8 and 10, when compared to CnCys, 2CnCys exhibited excellent surface activities, such as a lower critical micelle concentration (cmc), greater efficiency in lowering the surface tension of water, and smaller area occupied per molecule. Adsorption rate at air/water interface decreased with an increase in hydrocarbon chain length, chain number, and concentration of respective compounds. Further, the kinetics were discussed using the monomer diffusion coefficient obtained from short and long time scales in dynamic surface tension plots. In addition, the aggregation properties of 2CnCys for n=8 and 10 differed from those in the case of n=12. In other words, relatively larger micelles with diameters of approximately 7 nm were formed by 2CnCys for n=8 and 10 in comparison to those formed by CnCys (2-3 nm). On the other hand, for a 0.832 mmol dm-3 2C12Cys solution, the aggregation structure investigated by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) revealed the coexistence of small unilamellar vesicles and small rods.     

Star-shaped trimeric quaternary ammonium bromide surfactants: adsorption and aggregation properties

Novel star-shaped trimeric surfactants consisting of three quaternary ammonium surfactants linked to a tris(2-aminoethyl)amine core were synthesized. Each ammonium had two methyls and a straight alkyl chain of 8, 10, 12, or 14 carbons. The adsorption and aggregation properties of these tris(N-alkyl-N,N-dimethyl-2-ammoniumethyl)amine bromides (3C(n)trisQ, in which n represents alkyl chain carbon number) were characterized by equilibrium and dynamic surface tension, rheology, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) techniques. 3C(n)trisQ showed critical micelle concentrations (CMC) 1 order of magnitude lower than that of the corresponding gemini surfactants with an ethylene spacer and the corresponding monomeric surfactants. The logarithm of the CMC decreased linearly with increasing hydrocarbon chain length for 3C(n)trisQ. The slope of the line, which is well-known as Klevens equation, was larger than those of the monomeric and gemini surfactants; however, considering the total carbon number in the chains, the slope was shallower than the monomeric and was close to the gemini. Through the results such as surface tensions at the CMC (32-34 mN m(-1)) and the parameters of standard free energy, CMC/C(20) and pC(20), it was found that 3C(n)trisQ could adsorb densely at the air/water interface despite the strong electrostatic repulsion between multiple quaternary ammonium headgroups. Moreover, dynamic surface tension measurements showed that the kinetics of adsorption for 3C(n)trisQ to the air/water interface was slow because of their bulky structures. Furthermore, the results of rheology, SANS, and cryo-TEM determined that 3C(n)trisQ with n = 10 and 12 formed ellipsoidal micelles at low concentrations in solution and the structures transformed to threadlike micelles with very few branches for n = 12 as the concentration increased, but for n = 14 threadlike micelles formed at relatively low concentrations.     

Pyrene fluorescence at air/sodium dodecyl sulfate solution interface

The dependence of pyrene fluorescence spectra on the concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was observed, where the solution was prepared from water saturated with pyrene. The values of the I(1)/I(3) ratio from the bulk solution and from the upper meniscus region in an optical cell were similar but decreased rapidly around the critical micelle concentration (cmc) of SDS, indicating that pyrene molecules preferred to be solubilized in the micelles having a lower dielectric constant. The fluorescence intensity of the excimer indicated the concentration of pyrene molecules at the air/solution interface or the surface activity of pyrene molecules. In addition, the intensity from the meniscus region is much larger than that from the bulk at the concentrations below the cmc, whereas there was no difference in the intensity between the bulk and the meniscus above 8 mmol dm(-3) of SDS. The analysis of the fluorescence intensity from the excimer strongly suggests the presence of molecular aggregates that are favorable to the pyrene molecules just like the micelles in the bulk, making them less movable.     

Synthesis and surface properties of semi-fluorinated gemini surfactants with two reactive bromo pendant groups

This paper presents a series of semi-fluorinated gemini surfactants with two bromo pendant groups. It reviews the effect of the number of methylene units in the spacer group between the two hydrophilic quaternary ammonium heads. Critical micelle concentration (cmc) and free energy of micellization (ΔG(M)(0)) of the title surfactants, in aqueous solution, have been investigated as a function of the number n of carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon spacer. We have pointed out a different behaviour as compared to Gemini hydrocarbon homologues. In the present study, when the number of methylene units (n) in the spacer increases, the cmc first decreases and reaches an optimum for (n=6), then it increases linearly from n≥6. Variations of cmc have been interpreted in terms of conformation changes of the surfactant ion and progressive penetration of the alkyl chain spacer in the micelle hydrophobic core. In this series, the increase of the hydrophobicity seems not to favour the micellisation process as expected, probably impacted by the mutual phobicity of the perfluorinated tails and the hydrocarbon spacer. A minimum is reached for a spacer with six methylene units which seems to be the optimal conformation. The free energy of micellization (ΔG(M)(0)) confirm this tendency.     

Synthesis and Surface Properties of N-Alkyl-N-methylgluconamides and N-Alkyl-N-methyllactobionamides

Three series of nonionic N-alkylaldonamides, N-alkyl-N-methylgluconamides (Cn-MGA, Cn: n-C(10)H(21), n-C(12)H(25), n-C(14)H(29), n-C(16)H(33), and n-C(18)H(37)), N-alkyl-N-methyllactobionamides (Cn-MLA, alkyl as above-mentioned), and N-oleyl-N-methylglucon/lactobionamide, were synthesized in the reaction of an appropriate N-alkyl-N-methylamine with delta-D-glucolactone and lactobionic acid, respectively. Krafft temperatures of aqueous solutions and surface properties of these surfactants at 20 degrees C, i.e., surface excess concentration, Gamma(cmc), surface area demand per molecule, A(min), efficiency in surface tension reduction, pC(20), effectiveness in surface tension reduction, Pi(cmc), critical micelle concentration, CMC, and CMC/C(20) parameter as well as standard free energies of adsorption, DeltaG degrees (ads), and of micellization, DeltaG degrees (mic), were determined. It was shown that introduction of the methyl group to the amide nitrogen increased the solubility of the surfactants, which was confirmed by their Krafft temperatures. Lactobionamides are more water soluble than gluconamides. On the other hand, the Cn-MGA surfactants are more surface active than the respective Cn-MLA ones. This observation is based on the determined adsorption and micellization parameters. The presence of one double bond in a hydrocarbon chain as in oleyl-amides increases their hydrophilic character compared with that of saturated C18 derivatives. No distinct differences were observed between the A(min) values obtained for both series studied, although they differ markedly in the size of the hydrophilic groups. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.