Abstract: The dilute sodium hydroxide-catalyzed synthesis of maltitol dodecenyl succinate from maltitol and dodecenly succinic anhydride was investigated with respect to anhydride solvents, drop-by-by addition rate of anhydride, reaction time and maltitol-to-anhydride molar ratio. The maximum product yield of 89.7% was obtained under the optimal reaction conditions: acetone was used to solve dodecenyl succinate; the time required to complete anhydride addition drop by drop was 1.5 h; and the whole reaction duration was 5 h at 35 ℃ and a maltitol-to-anhydride molar ratio of 2:1. Infrared spectral and mass spectrometric analyses revealed that the surface tension of 1 mg/mL aqueous solution of the synthesized maltitol dodecenyl succinate was 31.9 × 10-3 N/m, the foaming capacity 50%, the emulsification capacity 100% and the HLB 15.1.

Key words: maltitol, dodecenly succinic anhydride, synthesis, maltitol dodecenyl succinate, emulsification, surface activity