Preparation of green non-ionic surfactants from 2,3-epoxy-1-propanol

In addition, the use of bio raw materials in their production is important for sustainability aspects and can lead to “green” and differentiated products in the market. In this work, glycidol has been used as a starting material to produce non-ionic surfactants.

Glycidol can be produced from glycerol carbonate, an important chemical intermediate which is synthesised via transesterification from glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel manufacture, and dimethyl carbonate. <br>All of the products presented in this work were prepared by reacting glycidol with a range of fatty alcohols. High yields were achieved after optimising different experimental conditions e.g. addition rate, reaction time, temperature and catalyst.