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Synthesis, Characterization and Investigation of Different Properties of Three Novel Thiourea-Based Non-ionic Surfactants

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Journal of Surfactants and Detergents

Abstract

Three novel thiourea-based non-ionic surfactants, 3-decanoyl-1,1-diphenylthiourea, 3-dodecanoyl-1,1-diphenylthiourea and 1,1-diphenyl-3-tetradecanoylthiourea were synthesized from carbonyl chlorides, potassium thiocyanate and amines in high yield. The synthesized compounds were characterized by different techniques like 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FTIR and UV-Visible spectrophotometry. These surfactants are soluble in nonpolar and polar organic solvents and resist solubility in water due to the presence of thiourea group. Electronic absorption spectroscopy was used to evaluate their critical micelle concentration (CMC) in different solvents. The CMC was found to decrease with increase in hydrophobic carbon chain length as expected. Moreover, the effect of pH on their spectral transition was investigated and the two peaks were found to merge in highly alkaline conditions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Quaid-i-Azam University, Higher Education Commission Islamabad, Pakistan, and the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University through the research group project no RGP-VPP-312. We also acknowledge the funding of Higher Education department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

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Correspondence to Imdad Ullah.

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Ullah, I., Shah, A., Badshah, A. et al. Synthesis, Characterization and Investigation of Different Properties of Three Novel Thiourea-Based Non-ionic Surfactants. J Surfact Deterg 17, 1013–1019 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-014-1575-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-014-1575-4

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