| abstract |
chemical compound, chemical composition, precursor to produce a surface active agent, and method for producing a chemical composition. a surface active agent comprising a methylated aryl ester of a fatty acid, or mixture of fatty acids, derived from biodiesel or a source of triglyceride, is presented. the fatty acid mixture is condensed into methyl esters and alkylated with aromatic substituents under friedel-crafts conditions. alkylated methyl esters can be alkoxylated using a catalyst derived from fatty acids, alkaline earth salts, and strong acids. the resulting non-ionic surfactant can also be sulfonated to produce a class of anionic surfactants. alkylated methyl esters can also be directly sulfonated to produce another class of anionic surfactants. |