Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity Studies of a New Twin-Tailed Gemini Surfactant Bearing Piperazine Heterocycle

A novel twin-tailed gemini surfactant was synthesized with anhydrous piperazine, 4-nitrobenzyl chloride and 1-bromo octane as raw materials. Its structure was verified by infrared and 1 H NMR. The optimum synthetic conditions were established by orthogonal array design. The sterilizing antimicrobial performance of the twin-tailed gemini surfactant was measured by using the disc diffusion method against 18 bacteria. The study indicated that the target twin-tailed gemini surfactant shows excellent inhibition against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus thuringiensis, Sphaericus, Bacillus mucilginosus, and Penicillium chrysogenum compared with conventional gemini surfactant and dialkyl monomeric surfactant at the concentration of 10 mg/ml.