Mechanochemical Upcycling of Biomass into Antimicrobial Oligomeric Glycosylamine Surfactants

Glycosylamine surfactants offer both surface activity and antimicrobial function but suffer from high synthesis cost and poor water solubility due to their reliance on monosaccharide precursors. Here, we report a mechanochemical “top-down” route that directly converts cellulosic biomass into oligomeric glycosylamine surfactants to solve these issues. Using thermally assisted ball milling with 0.25 wt % H2SO4, cellulose is partially hydrolyzed into oligosaccharides, which are then N-glycosylated with fatty amines under solvent-free conditions. This approach bypasses monosaccharide extraction, generating products with enhanced water solubility and strong surfactant performance. The resulting amphiphiles show effective oil dewetting and broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. This strategy is readily transferable to raw biomasses, offering a convenient and scalable platform for producing multifunctional biobased surfactants from renewable feedstocks.