Synthesis and characterization of polyethoxylate surfactants derived from phenolic lipids

Polyethoxylates from cardanol and from cardol, the main component phenolic lipids in technical cashew nutshell liquid derived from the replenishable source Anacardium occidentale, were obtained by reaction with ethylene oxide under base-catalyzed conditions. Oligomeric mixtures resulted. In the cardanol series, the first six members of the mixture were independently synthesized for characterization purposes by a variety of reactions. The members in the oligomeric mixture were separated by HPLC, and the composition was determined by H-1 NMR spectroscopy and by chromatography. These studies were preparatory to surfactant and biodegradation studies involving comparison with commercially available polyethoxylates derived from petrochemical nonylphenol.