Influence of the Structure of Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide Based Microemulsions on Base Hydrolysis of Carboxylic Acid Esters

The structure of water/cetyltrimethylammonium bromide/n-butanol/hexane microemulsions was studied by conductometry, viscometry, and Fourier transform ¹H NMR spectroscopy with pulse magnetic field gradient. The regions of phase inversion from inverse micelles in hexane through a bicontinual structure to a dispersion of normal micelles in water were determined. The influence of the structure of the microemulsions on the rate of hydrolysis of carboxylic acid p-nitrophenyl esters was analyzed. The hydrolysis rate constants considerably increase in going from inverse to normal microemulsions.     

A simple method to measure 13CH2 heteronuclear dipolar cross-correlation spectral densities

Here, we report a method to simultaneously determine CH2 cross-correlation spectral densities and T1 relaxation times in the laboratory and rotating frames. To accomplish this, we have employed an indirect approach that is based on measurement of differences in relaxation rates acquired with and without cross-correlation terms. The new method, which can be employed using multidimensional NMR and standard relaxation pulse sequences, is validated experimentally by investigation of a selectively 13C-enriched hexadecapeptide and the uniformly 13C-enriched immunoglobulin-binding domain of streptococcal protein G (GB1). Use of this approach makes determination of CH2 cross-correlation spectral densities in uniformly 13C-enriched proteins now routine and provides novel information concerning their internal motions.     

Effects of solubilized dodecylamine on the microstructure of cetylpyridinium bromide-<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-butanol-hexane-water system studied by pulsed-gradient spin echo NMR and ESR spin label methods

The effect of solubilized dodecylamine (DDA) on the structure of the cetylpyridinium bromide-n-butanol-hexane-water microemulsions has been studied by the Fourier-transform pulsed-gradient spin-echo¹H nuclear magnetic resonance and the electron spin resonance spin label method. The sample compositions were chosen to examine three different microemulsion structures: oil-in-water, water-in-oil and bicontinuous. In all systems the DDA molecules are shown to be incorporated into the oil-water interface, resulting in essential changes in the microemulsion structure. In the micellar systems the DDA emergence in the interface causes an increase of the micelle size and a redistribution of butanol and water between micelle and bulk phases. In the oil-in-water microemulsions of amine-containing systems the quantity of micellized butanol and water decreases. In the water-in-oil microemulsions the introduction of DDA leads to an increase of butanol and water involved in the micelle formation. The redistribution of butanol and water between polar and organic phases in the microemulsions would be expected to cause changes in the bicontinuous structure.     

Micellization in sodium deoxycholate solutions

NMR self-diffusion, tensiometry, and measurement of solubilization capacity are employed to comparatively study micellization in aqueous solutions of a facial amphiphilic compound, sodium deoxycholate (NaDC), and a conventional micelle-forming sodium dodecyl sulfate. Based on the two-state model, which is commonly used to analyze the data of NMR diffusometry, a method is proposed for determining variable sizes of NaDC micelles. It is shown that, in the concentration range from the critical micelle concentration to 0.1 M, the sizes of NaDC micelles monotonically increase. At comparable sizes of molecules of the examined surfactants, NaDC micelles are characterized by noticeably smaller aggregation numbers and solubilization capacity than sodium dodecyl sulfate due to the rigid structure of NaDC molecules, their facial amphiphilicity, and a low value of hydrophilic-lipophilic balance.     

Structural properties of microheterogeneous surfactant-based catalytic systems: Multicomponent self-diffusion NMR approach

The possibilities of the Fourier transform pulsed-gradient spin-echo¹H nuclear magnetic resonance approach in the structural study of surfactant-based microheterogeneous liquid systems are examined by the example of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide microemulsions under a large scale alterations in the water-to-oil ratio. The advantages of this approach to study the structure of microcompartmentalized systems with different phase manifestations are shown. The obtained structural information is used to analyze the microenvironment of the reacting species and the kinetic data on the basic hydrolysis of carbon acids esters in the microemulsion reaction medium.     

Peptide internal motions on nanosecond time scale derived from direct fitting of (13)C and (15)N NMR spectral density functions

NMR relaxation-derived spectral densities provide information on molecular and internal motions occurring on the picosecond to nanosecond time scales. Using (13)C and (15)N NMR relaxation parameters [T(1), T(2), and NOE] acquired at four Larmor frequencies (for (13)C: 62.5, 125, 150, and 200 MHz), spectral densities J(0), J(omega(C)), J(omega(H)), J(omega(H) + omega(C)), J(omega(H) - omega(C)), J(omega(N)), J(omega(H) + omega(N)), and J(omega(H) - omega(N)) were derived as a function of frequency for (15)NH, (13)C(alpha)H, and (13)C(beta)H(3) groups of an alanine residue in an alpha-helix-forming peptide. This extensive relaxation data set has allowed derivation of highly defined (13)C and (15)N spectral density maps. Using Monte Carlo minimization, these maps were fit to a spectral density function of three Lorentzian terms having six motional parameters: tau(0), tau(1), tau(2), c(0), c(1), and c(2), where tau(0), tau(1) and tau(2) are correlation times for overall tumbling and for slower and faster internal motions, and c(0), c(1), and c(2) are their weighting coefficients. Analysis of the high-frequency portion of these maps was particularly informative, especially when deriving motional parameters of the side-chain methyl group for which the order parameter is very small and overall tumbling motions do not dominate the spectral density function. Overall correlation times, tau(0), are found to be in nanosecond range, consistent with values determined using the Lipari-Szabo model-free approach. Internal motional correlation times range from picoseconds for methyl group rotation to nanoseconds for backbone N-H, C(alpha)-H, and C(alpha)-C(beta) bond motions. General application of this approach will allow greater insight into the internal motions in peptides and proteins.     

Structure and dynamics of concentrated micellar solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate

In micellar solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate, as the concentration of surfactants increases, the spheroid shape of the micelles changes from almost spherical to ellipsoidal with increasing ratio of half-axes ratio, and further the transition to cylindrical micelles occurs. The micelles in an aqueous solution can directly contact (compact aggregates) or be separated from one another by layers of intermicellar medium (periodical colloid structures). In the latter case, the thickness of the layer can significantly exceed the micelle size, and then no mutual correlation in micelle arrangement is observed. According to the data of small-angle X-ray scattering, the relationship between the surfactant concentration and formation of “quasi-crystalline” micellar structure is nonlinear, which can be due to both micelle aggregation processes and nonuniformity of their structure. The possible influence of ordered micellar structures on the diffusion mobility of micelles is shown.     

Structure and properties of aqueous dispersions of sodium dodecyl sulfate with carbon nanotubes

The dispersing action of the surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) on the carbon nanotubes (CNT) in aqueous medium has been studied. Electron microscopy, molecular docking, NMR and IR spectroscopies were applied to determine the physical-chemical properties of CNT dispersions in SDS—water solutions. It was established that micellar adsorption of the surfactant on the surface of carbon material and solubilization of SDS in aqueous medium contribute to improving CNT dispersing in water solutions. It was shown that the non-polar hydrocarbon radicals of a single surfactant molecule form the highest possible number of contacts with the graphene surface. Upon increase of the SDS in solution these radicals form micelles connected with the surface of the nanotubes. At the sufficiently high SDS concentration the nanotube surface becomes covered with an adsorbed layer of surfactant micelles. Water molecules and sodium cations are concentrated in spaces between micelles. The observed pattern of micellar adsorption is somewhat similar to a loose bilayer of surfactant molecules.