Synthesis and characterization of phenolic antioxidants with surfactant properties: glucosyl- and glucuronosyl alkyl gallates

In the search of better antioxidants for different applications, we have designed and synthesized two series of antioxidants that possess surfactant properties: glucosyl- and glucuronosyl alkyl gallates. They display better surface-active efficiency that alkyl gallates and some show critical micelle concentration (CMC) and surfactant effectiveness (γcmc) in the same range of worldwide known surfactants, such as Brij-30 or Tween-20. Moreover, they exhibit a high antioxidant activity due to the di-ortho phenolic moiety present in their structure. Nevertheless, glucosyl- and glucuronosyl alkyl gallates are worse antioxidants than the corresponding alkyl gallates.