Nem quaternary ammonium salts derived from cardanol and their use as phasetransfer catalyst

Cardanol obtained from cashew nut shell liquid, a side product of the Brazi lian industry, was the starting material for the synthesis of three new qua ternary ammonium salts. High molecular weight quaternary nitrogen compounds generally possess high bactericidal activity. This report also presents th e results of an investigation of the effectiveness of the new compounds as phase transfer catalysts in oxidation and alkylation reactions, whose yield s were comparable to and some even greater than those obtained using the co mmercial catalyst Aliquat(R).