Abstract: A cationic surfactant and a method of making the cationic surfactant are described. The method comprises reacting a lipophilic bio-based material having at least one epoxy functional group and a hydrophilic organic compound having at least one cationic functional group and at least one hydroxyl functional group to form a reaction product containing a stable ether linkage connecting the lipophilic bio-based material to the organic compound. At least a portion of the cationic functional groups is neutralized or ion exchanged with an organic acid. Incorporation of the simple organic acid reduces the surfactant's aquatic toxicity and acts as a substrate to encourage co-digestion of the surfactant molecule, making the compound more biodegradable.

Abstract: Bio-based surfactants have great opportunity for use in a variety of applications such as laundry detergents, industrial cleaners, adjuvants, and oil & gas. Surfactants in these applications can be nonionic, anionic, cationic, or amphoteric. Utilizing high oleic soybean oil as a platform chemical, a variety of surfactants and properties can be produced. While early work focused solely on surfactant use in laundry cleaning and fracking, recent work has expanded functional groups and application evaluations in hard surface cleaning. The current invention expands on Battelle's high oleic soybean oil (HOSO) surfactant technology. Use of HOSO overcomes the limitations of regular soybean oil and significantly reduces or eliminates undesirable byproducts in most chemistries. However, with use of select reagents, a few candidates were achievable with regular epoxidized soybean oil (ESO).

Abstract: A cationic surfactant and a method of making the cationic surfactant are described. The method comprises reacting a lipophilic bio-based material having at least one epoxy functional group and a hydrophilic organic compound having at least one cationic functional group and at least one hydroxyl functional group to form a reaction product containing a stable ether linkage connecting the lipophilic bio-based material to the organic compound. At least a portion of the cationic functional groups is neutralized or ion exchanged with an organic acid. Incorporation of the simple organic acid reduces the surfactant's aquatic toxicity and acts as a substrate to encourage co-digestion of the surfactant molecule, making the compound more biodegradable.