To enable selective sulfation of the hydroxyl group in an unsaturated alcohol, as the addition reaction of hydroxyl groups to the unsaturated bond is suppressed by treating the unsaturated alcohol under specific conditions.
A higher alcohol bearing an unsaturated bond such as palmitooleyl alcohol is sulfated with a sulfating agent, neutralized with a basic substance to produce an unsaturated alcohol sulfat salt represented by the formula: R'-OSO3M (R' is a 8-22C straight or branched unsaturated hydrocarbon; M is an alkali or alkaline earth metal). At this time, SO3 gas is used as a sulfating agent, preferably in an amount of 0.8-1.2 equivalent based on the starting higher alcohol to effect the sulfation at 40-80°C. Then, in a substantially non-aqueous system, a neutralizing agent such as an alkanolamine is used to effect neutralization. The sulfation with SO3 gas is preferably carried out in a gas-liquid contacting thinfilm flow reactor.
MIYAMOTO SHIGEYUKI
AIZAWA KAZUNORI
NAGUMO HIROSHI
