Vitamin C acts as a powerful radical scavenger, and can be used as a convenient antioxidant agent in
aqueous media. To extend its properties to nonaqueous environments, alkanoyl-6-O-ascorbic acid esters
with different chain lengths were synthesized, and their micellar and antioxidant properties were
investigated by surface tension, viscosity, light scattering, neutron scattering, oxygen uptake, and UV/VIS
spectra. According to our results, octanoyl-ascorbic acid forms nearly spherical micelles in water solutions
above a cmc of about 6 × 10-3 mol/L at 30 °C, while decanoyl- and dodecanoyl-ascorbic acid are poorly
soluble in water. No matter how long the hydrophobic chain is, all these esters show the same antioxidant
activity as vitamin C and other natural products.
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