Fluorinated sulfamido amphoteric surfactants

Two new classes of partially fluorinated amphoteric surfactants including sulfamido betaine and sulfamido amine N-oxide have been synthesized in which a fluoroalkyl chain is interrupted either by ether oxygen (O), or by methylene (CH2) units. Both classes of molecules involve multi-step syntheses via fluorinated sulfonyl chlorides (RfOCF2CF2CH2CH2SO2Cl, RfC3F7 or Rf(CH2CF2) nCH2CH2SO2Cl, RfC4F9, n = 1 or 2) as intermediates. These new fluorinated surfactants are compared to commercially available fluorinated amphoteric surfactants for their performance in applications like wetting and leveling, firefighting foams, and oil field. These materials exhibit superior or comparable performance yet are more fluorine efficient because they have lower fluorine content than their perfluoroalkyl congeners.