Preparing Trihydroxy Quaternary Ammonium Salt Cationic Surfactan Based on Salicylic Acid

Salicylic acid, usually used to promote plant growth as small molecular phenolic compounds, was reacted with epichlorohydrin to obtain esterification product. The esterification product was then quaternized with N, N-dimethylethanolamine to prepare the novel cationic surfactant. The optimal reaction conditions were obtained at 75 ℃ for 24 h in acetonitrile. The product was light yellow liquid with the yield of 87.3%. FT-IR was used to characterize the characteristic groups in the final product.