Lyotropic liquid crystals (LLC) having amphiphilic properties are promising materials as co-surfactants in emulsion formulations. A carbohydrate lyotropic liquid crystal, hexadecyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside, was synthesized by linking D-glucose to cetyl alcohol via acetylated glucoside and its ability to stabilize microemulsions was investigated. The synthesized compound was characterized by using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Both acetylated and deacetylated compounds were found to exhibit thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystal behavior. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) value of 1.53 x 10(-5)mol dm(-3) obtained for hexadecyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside from both UV-visible spectroscopic and turbidity methods suggests its non-ionic surfactant properties. Calculated HLB value of 8.86 indicates that it is suitable for making self-emulsifying oils and water in oil (W/O) emulsions. By introducing optimum amount of 0.05wt% of newly synthesized hexadecyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside as a co-surfactant, macro emulsions formulated with olive oil, water and non-ionic lipophilic surfactant sorbitan monostearate (Span 80) was successfully converted into microemulsions.