Preparation, surface-active properties, and antimicrobial activities of bis(alkylammonium) dichlorides having a butenylene or a butynylene spacer

A series of new cationic gemini surfactants, bis(alkylammonium) dichlorides having a butenylene or a butynylene spacer, were prepared almost quantitat ively by the reaction of a long-chain alkyldimethylamine with a highly reac tive allylic or propargylic dichloride, and their surface-active properties were measured. All of them showed good water solubility and quite low crit ical micelle concentrations, which were more than one order of magnitude lo wer than those of the corresponding mono(alkylammonium) salts. They also sh owed quite high foaming ability and foam stability when they have an approp riate hydrophile-lipophile balance. Many of them showed almost the same ant imicrobial activities against the eumycetes Aspergillus sp. and Candida alb icans as commercial germicides such as benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexid ine gluconate.