The effect of structural variation in fatty acid and amino acid moieties on surfactant properties of sodium salts of N-acyl condensates of amino acids was investigated. Pure N-acyl leucines and N-lauroyl condensates of different amino acids were synthesized and neutralized. Among the N-acyl leucinates, N-lauroyl leucinate exhibited optimum properties and compared well with sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). Among the salts of Nα-lauroyl amino acids, Nα-lauroyl lysinate was found comparable to SLS. Salts of Nα-lauroyl condensates of leucine, tryptophan, phenylalanine and proline showed good wetting ability; proline also displayed high calcium ion tolerance. Salts of N-lauroyl tyrosine and phenylalanine exhibited good foaming ability. N-Lauroyl aspartate showed inferior properties compared to SLS in spite of having an additional carboxylic gro