Surface and biological activity of some novel cationic surfactants

In this study, steps were taken toward the development of bactericidal and fungicidal synthetic cationic surfactants by reacting decyl, dodecyl or tetradecyl amine with acetic or hydrochloric acid to produce a series of amine salts which consequently converted to copper or cobalt cationic complexes via complexing the first series compounds with copper (II) or cobalt (II) ions. Surface properties such as interfacial tension and emulsifying power of these surfactants were investigated. The surface parameters including critical micelle concentration (CMC), maximum surface excess (Gamma(max)) and minimum surface area (A(min)) were studied. Free energy of micellization (Delta G(mic)(0)) and adsorption (Delta G(ads)(0)) were calculated. The antimicrobial activity was determined via the inhibition zone diameter of the prepared compounds, which measured against five strains of a representative group of microorganisms. FTIR spectra, elemental analysis and H-1 NMR spectrum were performed to confirm compound structure and purity.