Provided herein are functionalized branched alcohols comprising a glycosyl group, an ethylene oxide linker and a tail. The ethylene oxide linker comprises one or more units of ethylene oxide. The glycosyl group is a substituent structure of a cyclic monosaccharide. The tail comprises a branched paraffin or isomers thereof, the glycosyl group is attached to the ethylene oxide linker, and the ethylene oxide linker is attached to the tail. In an aspect, the glycosyl group is a substituent structure of glucose, mannose, galactose, sorbose, fructose, xylose, arabinose, ribose, lyxose, lactose, or maltose, or variants thereof. The tail can be a paraffin comprising 9 to 13 carbon atoms.