Synthesis, characterization, and functional evaluation of branched dodecyl phenol polyoxyethylene ethers: a novel class of surfactants with excellent wetting properties.

A series of branched dodecyl phenol polyoxyethylene ethers (b-DPEO n ) were successfully synthesized via alkylation and ethylene oxide addition reactions. The alkylation reaction was conducted by using a branched internal olefin as the raw material. Furthermore, the conversion rate of the branched dodecene was measured to be 98.1% and the selectivity towards branched dodecyl phenol (b-DP) was 95.9%. Moreover, b-DPEO n (b-DPEO 7 , b-DPEO 10 , b-DPEO 12 ) were obtained via the reaction of ethylene oxide with b-DP. Notably, b-DPEO 10 can efficiently reduce the surface tension of water below 31.55 mN m -1 at the critical micelle concentration (cmc) and the cmc value in water was approximately 1.3 × 10 -2 g L -1 at 25 °C. The preferable wetting ability of b-DPEO 10 was superior to that of commercialized dodecyl phenol polyoxyethylene ether (c-DPEO n ), so it will be promoted and used in the textile and pesticide industries.