Coolade. A Low-Foaming Surfactant for Organic Synthesis in Water

Several types of reduction reactions in organic synthesis are performed under aqueous micellar-catalysis conditions (in water at ambient temperature), which produce a significant volume of foam owing to the combination of the surfactant and the presence of gas evolution. The newly engineered surfactant Coolade minimizes this important technical issue owing to its low-foaming properties. Coolade is the latest in a series of designer surfactants specifically tailored to enable organic synthesis in water. This study reports the synthesis of this new surfactant along with its applications to gas-involving reactions.