Synthesis and Applications of Functional Materials Related to Oleochemistry

The paper is primarily based on the article that qualified for the 2000 Japan Oil Chemists' Society Award. Novel synthetic routes of functional materials and intermediates involving reactions of epoxides were established. Reactions of epoxides with halogen compounds gave insertion products of epoxide into carbon-halogen bonds. Reactions of epoxides with carbonyl compounds gave 1, 3-dioxolane compounds. Special surfactants containing chemically cleavable surfactants, ƒ¿, ƒÖ-type surfactants and others were developed. The major chemically cleavable surfactants each possessed a 1, 3-dioxolane ring as connecting group of hydrophobic moiety with the hydrophilic moiety. Chemically cleavable surfactants were useful as ecofriendly surfactants owing to lose surface activity subsequent to acid, base or ozone addition after usage and the resulting oily residue could be recovered. The surfactants were useful for producing of high purity polymer by emulsion polymerization. Properties of surfactant mixed system were studied. Sodium dodecylsufate (SDS) alkyl glucoside (AG) and SDS alkyl ethoxylate (AE) mixed systems showed greater dissociation of sodium ions of SDS than SDS alone. The SDS AG mixed system showed no molecular interaction in mixed micelles, while the SDS AE mixed system did so. Percent leakage of a liposome probe was found strongly dependent on composition of mixed surfactants.