Solubility of amino acids in aqueous poly (ethylene glycol) solutions

The solubilities of amino acids have been measured in water and aqueous poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) solutions as a function of temperature and PEG concentration. The free energies of transfer from water to aqueous PEG solutions forl-alanine,l-valine,l-isoleucine andl-leucine were positive, while those forl-phenylalanine andl-tryptophan were negative. The corresponding enthalpies of transfer were almost zero for all amino acids. The equilibrium constants of the binding of amino acids to PEG chain were estimated from the solubility data. Amino acids with larger hydrophobicity are bound more strongly to the PEG chain due to the hydrophobic interaction between the methylene groups of PEG and the side chain of amino acid. The equilibrium constants showed a correlation with the dynamic hydration number (n_DHN) which expresses the hydration properties of amino acids in aqueous solution.