The synthesis of CO2 philic surfactant using maleic anhydride and 4-tert-butylbenzyl alcohol is reported. We reacted maleic anhydride with 4-tert-butylbenzyl alcohol to form bis(4-(tert-butyl)benzyl) fumarate and sulfonated the produced diester. The esterification reaction was optimized for a maximum yield of 98 of bis(4-(tert-butyl)benzyl) fumarate. First-order reaction kinetics with respect to acid was observed. The activation energy was found to be 55.62 kJ/mol. The sulfonated product of diester was obtained by the sulfonation reaction and the yield of 82 of surfactant was achieved. The in-house developed surfactant effectively lowered down the IFT between CO2/brine to 4.2 mN/m. This surfactant is targeted for CO2-EOR applications. © 2014 Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.