A series of quaternary ammonium salts containing ester groups in their alkyl chains were prepared effectively from the one-pot reaction of alkylamine with epichlorohydrin and fatty acid. The reaction of alkylamine, epichlorohydrin and fatty acid was investigated by measuring the acid and amine values of the intermediates. It is considered to be a two step reaction : One is the formation of alkyl chloride containing an ester group from the reaction of fatty acid with epichlorohydrin. The other is the quaternarization of alkylamine with alkyl chloride containing an ester group. It was also found that the formation of alkyl chloride is greatly assisted by alkylamine, which is the raw material for the quaternary ammonium salt. The surface-active properties of prepared quaternary ammonium salts were measured and compared with the conventional quaternary ammonium salts.