Synthesis, Characterization and Surface Active Properties of Imidazolinium Surfactant Derived from Oleic Acid and Diethylenetriamine

Abstract This paper describes an efficient method for the synthesis of long chain alkylamido imidazolines by the reaction of diethylenetriamine and oleic acid under non-solvent microwave irradiation using calcium oxide as support and their comparison with conventional thermal condensation process. Synthesized imidazolines were then quaternized by using dimethylsulfate as a quaternizing agent and isopropanol as a solvent, to produce cationic imidazolinium salts which were evaluated for yield and cationic content. The instrumental techniques, viz. FT-IR and 1 H-NMR verified the formation of imidazolines and its subsequent quaternization. The surface active and performance properties of cationic imidazolines in terms of c.m.c., surface tension, dispersability, emulsion stability, softening, rewettability and detergency were also reported.