Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2026

Facile Synthesis of Worm-like Micelles by Visible Light Mediated Dispersion Polymerization Using Photoredox Catalyst
Published on: June 8, 2016
N-Geranylated Amino Acid Surfactants with Low Critical Micelle Concentrations from Abundant, Naturally Derived
Brett L Pollard1, Yumeng Liu1, Michael G Gardiner1
1Research School of Chemistry, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.
Abstract:
In this work, a simple method for the preparation of N-alkylated amino acid surfactants in 1-2 steps is reported. These products perform comparably to existing ionic surfactants, with N-tetrahydrogeranylated serine having a critical micelle concentration (CMC) of only 7.4 mmol·L-1. The suite of multiply charged surfactants generally possesses CMCs comparable to existing ionic surfactants. Further, their synthesis is simple, high-yielding, scalable, and does not require complex purification. The most hydrophobic surfactant (N-geranylated glycine) was found to have a log n-octanol-water partition coefficient (Pow) of 1.6 (indicating low bioaccumulative potential), and a single-step product (N-geranylated aspartic acid) was assessed for detergency potential via swatch testing.
Related Concept Videos
Colloids
Surface Active Agents
Micelles

