The development of compounds with dual or multi-functions or activities is being paid attention in the scientific community.
Herein, two series of phthalimide-containing copolymers were synthesized and structurally characterized and their
potency against selected microbial strains was evaluated. Our study mainly focused on evaluating both the antimicrobial
and surface activities of new corresponding polymeric cationic surfactants for removing petroleum thin films with their
increased dispersing capacity. The synthesis process includes the formation of N-methacryloyloxytetrachlorophthalimide
monomer, homopolymerization, and exchange reactions with various amino- and hydroxy-compounds for the synthesis of
copolymers. Lastly, polymeric surfactants were obtained via the quaternization of some copolymers with dimethyl sulfate.
Among the tested derivatives, compounds 5a, 5b, 6c, 6d, and 7b showed higher activities than the standard drugs which
reached 2.45-fold (44 mm against A. niger) in copolymer 5b. Besides, the three polymeric surfactants displayed strong surface
activity features including Krafft point, foaming, and emulsifying power. Moreover, polymeric surfactant 7b exhibited
strong dispersion behavior for petroleum in both undiluted form (Kd from 91.60 to 93.20%, τ = 30–96 h) and diluted form
(Kd from 95.7 to 98.1%, τ = 5–96 h).