Synthesis and Characterization of Non-Ionic Surfactants Prepared from Furan-2-Methanol Derivatives**

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This proposal concerns the preparation and properties evaluation of a series of non-ionic surfactants synthesized from derivatives of chloromethylfurfural that will be supplied by Origin Materials and have the general structure R-F-MeOH, where the R-group contains an alkyl chain and F and MeOH stand for furan and methanol, respectively. The precursors for these alkylated furan derivatives can be produced on a large scale from cardboard or wood chips via an innovative catalytic process developed by Origin Materials. The ability to use R-F-MeOH derivatives as precursors to synthesize non-ionic surfactants would lead to new applications for these bio-derived feedstocks. To achieve this, the methanol substituent of R-F-MeOH will be deprotonated to serve as initiator for the anionic polymerization of ethylene oxide and grow a hydrophilic oligo(ethylene oxide) (OEO) segment. Furan-based non-ionic surfactants (fbnios) will be prepared with systematic variations in the length of the alkyl chain in the R-group and of the OEO chain, so as to control their hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB). Each surfactant will be characterized by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence**spectroscopy to determine its critical micelle concentration (CMC, the surfactant concentration above which micelles are formed) and aggregation number (Nagg, the number of surfactant molecules per micelle). In combination with surface tension measurements, these results will allow the evaluation of the effectiveness of these novel surfactants. Structure-property relationships will be established relating the CMC, Nagg, and surface tension reduction with the HLB of these surfactants.**