Direct conversion of wheat bran hemicelluloses into n-decyl-pentosides

Direct preparation of pentose based surfactants has been achieved by a direct conversion of wheat bran hemicelluloses in decanol under smooth conditions. Hemicelluloses have been efficiently converted in a single step operation. The wheat-based surfactants thus obtained have shown good surface properties compared to other alkyl glycosides. In view of the growing importance of renewable resource based molecules in detergents and cosmetics industries, this approach may open a new avenue for the production of green surfactants.