Synthesis of a new class of corrosion inhibitors derived from natural fatty acid: 13‐Docosenoic acid amide derivatives for oil and gas industry

Abstract

As corrosion inhibitors, a series of new amide derivatives of 13‐docosenoic acid was synthesized in yields of above 90% by reacting 13-docosenoic acid with primary and secondary aliphatic and aromatic amines. The inhibition efficiencies (%IEs) of these compounds at various concentrations for the suppression of corrosion of mild steel in 1.00 M HCl exposed for 96 h (4 days) at temperatures in the range 298–333 K were measured via gravimetric corrosion measurements. At 100 ppm, all compounds yielded satisfactory corrosion %IE in 1.00 M HCl; compounds 2 and 7 exhibited remarkable %IE of 70.0 and 74.7%, respectively. The results of gravimetric measurements further revealed that compound 7 performed excellently at 60 °C, with %IE = 96.8 at 500 ppm. Quantum chemical density functional theory (DFT) calculations helped predict that compound 7 should have more aromatic character, enabling it to serve as a donor-center for the empty d-orbital of the metal atoms, leading to higher corrosion IE. The adsorption of the inhibitor molecules on the surface of mild steel followed the Langmuir adsorption model, and the free energy of adsorption (ΔGads) value indicated that the inhibitors are adsorbed through a combined physisorption and chemisorption mechanism to provide effective surface coverage.

Keywords

• Corrosion inhibition
• Mild steel
• Acidic media
• DFT
• 13‐docosenoic acid amides