A General Approach to Anionic Acid-Labile Surfactants with Tunable Properties

A general approach to the synthesis of a new series of unique sulfate anionic acid-labile surfactants (AALS) was developed. In this approach, the ketal was derived from methyl pyruvate, and the sulfate motif was introduced via sulfitylation of the alcohol, oxidation, and finally conversion of the sulfate diester to the desired sodium salt. The physicochemical properties in aqueous solution of this novel series of surfactants, such as CMCs, solubility, acid lability, and stability were studied.