Diversifying the solid state and lyotropic phase behavior of nonionic urea-based surfactants

The solid state and lyotropic phase behavior of 10 new nonionic urea-based surfactants has been characterized. The strong homo-urea interaction, which can prevent urea surfactants from forming lyotropic liquid crystalline phases, has been ameliorated through the use of isoprenoid hydrocarbon tails such as phytanyl (3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-hexadecyl) and hexahydrofarnesyl (3,7,11-trimethyl-dodecyl) or the oleyl chain (cis-octadec-9-enyl). Additionally, the urea head group was modified by attaching either a hydroxy alkyl (short chain alcohol) moiety to one of the nitrogens of the urea or by effectively "doubling" the urea head group by replacing it with a biuret head group. The solid state phase behavior, including the liquid crystal-isotropic liquid, polymorphic, and glass transitions, is interpreted in terms of molecular geometries and probable hydrogen-bonding interactions. Four of the modified urea surfactants displayed ordered lyotropic liquid crystalline phases that were stable in excess water at both room and physiological temperatures, namely, 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-oleyl urea (oleyl 1,1-HEU) with a 1D lamellar phase (Lalpha), 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-phytanyl urea (Phyt 1,3-HEU) with a 2D inverse hexagonal phase (HII), and 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-phytanyl urea (Phyt 1,1-HEU) and 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-hexahydrofarnesyl urea (Hfarn 1,3-HEU) with a 3D bicontinuous cubic phase (QII). Phyt 1,1-HEU exhibited rich mesomorphism (QII1, QII2, Lalpha, LU, and HII), as did one other surfactant, oleyl 1,3-HEU (QII1, QII2, Lalpha, LU, and HII), in the study group. LU is an unusual phase which is mobile and isotropic but possesses shear birefringence, and has been very tentatively assigned as an inverse sponge phase. Three other surfactants exhibited a single lyotropic liquid crystalline phase, either Lalpha or HII, at temperatures >50 degrees C. The 10 new surfactants are compared with other recently reported nonionic urea surfactants. Structure-property correlations are examined for this novel group of self-assembling amphiphiles.     

Equilibrium analysis of reactions between aromatic anions and nonionic surfactant micelles by capillary zone electrophoresis.

Separability of some positional isomers of aromatic anions by capillary zone electrophoresis was improved by adding nonionic surfactants to a migrating solution. Eleven kinds of aromatic anions, including positional isomers, were used as analytes, and Brij-35, Brij-58 and Brij-78 were investigated as nonionic surfactants to form micelles, where hydrophobicities are different from each other. Increasing the concentration of the surfactants developed the separability of the anionic isomers. The interaction between the anions and the nonionic surfactant micelles is also investigated through the change in the electrophoretic mobility, and the binding constants are determined. Apparent electrophoretic mobility of the anions decreased with increasing concentrations of the nonionic surfactants. The decrease in the mobility, as well as the binding constant, was larger in the monovalent anions than in the divalent anions, which indicates that the interaction or reactivity of the monovalent analytes is higher than that of the divalent analytes. The reactivity of each anion was almost identical even when the kinds of the surfactants were changed, suggesting that the hydrophobicity of the polyoxyethylene group in the surfactant would have the main role for binding the analytes. The reactivity tendency among the positional isomers was almost similar to that in ion association-capillary zone electrophoresis using tertabutylammonium ion as a pairing ion. The results obtained in this work suggest that the anions are bound to the micelles by the hydrophobic interaction between analyte anions and the polyoxyethylene moiety of the surfactant micelles. Changes in the fluorescence intensity of the anions were also investigated; the results can explain well the mobility changes of the analytes.     

Positional isomers of linear sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate: solubility, self-assembly, and air/water interfacial activity

Commercial linear alkyl benzene sulfonates (ABS) are a very important class of anionic surfactants that are employed in a wide variety of applications, especially those involving wetting and detergency. Linear ABS surfactants generally consist of a complex mixture of different chain lengths and positional isomers. This diversity and level of complexity makes it difficult to develop fundamental structure-property correlations for the commercial surfactants. In this work, six monodisperse headgroup positional isomers of sodium para-dodecyl benzene sulfonate (Na-x-DBS, x = 1-6) have been studied. The influence of headgroup position and added electrolyte (NaCl) on the solubility and self-assembly (micellar and vesicular aggregation and lyotropic liquid crystalline phase behavior) in the temperature range from 10 to 90 degrees C have been investigated. Additionally, the air-aqueous solution interfacial adsorption at 25 (no added NaCl) and 50 degrees C (from 0 to 1.0 M added NaCl) has been examined. The observed physicochemical behavior is interpreted in terms of local molecular packing constraints, and in the case of the lyotropic liquid crystalline behavior global aggregate packing constraints as well.     

Nonionic urea surfactants: formation of inverse hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystalline phases by introducing hydrocarbon chain unsaturation

The homo-interaction between urea moieties residing in close proximity to each other generally results in very strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding. The bifurcated hydrogen bonding exhibited by n-alkyl substituted ureas means that for those urea surfactants possessing medium and long hydrocarbon chain substituents the crystal to isotropic liquid melting point is high and the solubility in water is very low, compared to other similar chain length nonionic surfactants. In addition, saturated n-alkyl urea surfactants do not form lyotropic liquid crystalline phases in water. In this work the strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding of the urea headgroup has been ameliorated through the introduction of unsaturated hydrocarbon chains, viz., oleyl (cis-octadec-9-enyl), linoleyl (cis, cis-octadec-9,12-dienyl), and linolenyl (cis, cis, cis-octadec-9,12,15-trienyl) with one, two, and three carbon double bonds, respectively. Unsaturation in the C18 urea surfactants lowers the melting point and promotes an inverse hexagonal phase, in oleyl urea-water and linoleyl urea-water systems, which is thermodynamically stable in excess water. As the degree of unsaturation is increased to three in linolenyl urea, there is a tendency for autoxidation/polymerization. The occurrence of an inverse hexagonal phase in the nonionic urea surfactant-water systems has been rationalized in terms of both local molecular and global self-assembled aggregate packing constraints.     

The microstructure of di-alkyl chain cationic/nonionic surfactant mixtures: observation of coexisting lamellar and micellar phases and depletion induced phase separation

The evolution of the microstructure and composition occurring in the aqueous solutions of di-alkyl chain cationic/nonionic surfactant mixtures has been studied in detail using small angle neutron scattering, SANS. For all the systems studied we observe an evolution from a predominantly lamellar phase, for solutions rich in di-alkyl chain cationic surfactant, to mixed cationic/nonionic micelles, for solutions rich in the nonionic surfactant. At intermediate solution compositions there is a region of coexistence of lamellar and micellar phases, where the relative amounts change with solution composition. A number of different di-alkyl chain cationic surfactants, DHDAB, 2HT, DHTAC, DHTA methyl sulfate, and DISDA methyl sulfate, and nonionic surfactants, C12E12 and C12E23, are investigated. For these systems the differences in phase behavior is discussed, and for the mixture DHDAB/C12E12 a direct comparison with theoretical predictions of phase behavior is made. It is shown that the phase separation that can occur in these mixed systems is induced by a depletion force arising from the micellar component, and that the size and volume fraction of the micelles are critical factors.     

Anisotropic phases of six positional isomers of n-butyl stearate and factors influencing their mesomorphism

Six positional isomers of the known mesogen, n -butyl stearate ( BS ), have been synthesized and their neat anisotropic phases have been investigated by optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and powder X-ray diffractometry. Pentyl heptadecanoate ( 1a ), hexadecyl hexanoate ( 1d ), heptadecyl pentanoate ( 1e ), and octadecyl butanoate ( 1f ) form enantiotropic mesophases, some of which are hexatic B or crystal B. Hexyl hexadecanoate ( 1b ) forms a monotropic mesophase, and decyl dodecanoate ( 1c ) is not mesomorphic. Mixtures of BS and 1f are miscible in all phases and at all compositions. The factors responsible for the variations in phase behaviour among the set of isomers is discussed and compared with the properties of the analogous solid phases of n -heneicosane (C21H44).     

CPS LG 315 Correlation between the phase behavior of ternary systems and removal of oil in the washing process

The correlation between the phase behavior of aqueous solutions of nonionic surfactants and the removal of oil from fabrics has been determined. Model washing experiments with pure and technical grade nonionic surfactants indicated that, in the dispersion ranges of liquid crystals, oil removal is substantially more temperature-dependent compared to micellar or surfactant liquid phases. In this phase region, interfacial tension does not seem to play a substantial role. The results are discussed in terms of the macroscopic properties of mesophases.The publications on which this report is based were promoted with funds of the Federal German Ministry of Research and Technology (No. 03 C 219 2). However, the authors alone are responsible for its contents.     

Dimeric and oligomeric surfactants. Behavior at interfaces and in aqueous solution: a review

Dimeric and oligomeric surfactants are novel surfactants that are presently attracting considerable interest in the academic and industrial communities working on surfactants. This paper first presents a number of chemical structures that have been reported for ionic, amphoteric and nonionic dimeric and oligomeric surfactants. The following aspects of these surfactants are then successively reviewed the state of dimeric and oligomeric surfactants in aqueous solutions at concentration below the critical micellization concentration (cmc); their behavior at the air/solution and solid/solution interfaces; their solubility in water, cmc and thermodynamics of micellization; the properties of the aqueous micelles of dimeric and oligomeric surfactants (ionization degree, size, shape, micropolarity and microviscosity, solution microstructure, solution rheology, micelle dynamics, micellar solubilization, interaction between dimeric surfactants and water-soluble polymers); the mixed micellization of dimeric surfactants with various conventional surfactants; the phase behavior of dimeric surfactants and the applications of these novel surfactants.     

The importance of lipophobicity in surfactants: methods for measuring lipophobicity and its effect on the properties of two types of nonionic surfactant

In researching the properties of surfactants, lipophobicity is an important consideration. Increasing surfactant lipophobicity corresponds to a decrease in the saturation concentration of a singly dispersed surfactant in oil, i.e., a decrease in the critical micelle concentration in oil (CMC(oil)). This, in turn, is the crucial property in discussing the efficiency of a surfactant. Lipophobicity is influenced by the structure and length of the hydrophilic moiety of the surfactant. Surfactants that consist of OH or CO groups are effective for use in both aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon-rich systems because they are highly lipophobic and of a compact size and function independent of temperature. These characteristics are also reflected in their phase behavior. Phase diagrams illustrate the following properties: temperature independence; strong absorption at the water-oil interface and efficient action even with a very small amount of surfactant with a low CMC; high solubilization of water and oil into an aggregated surfactant solution phase. Through phase diagrams, the CMC(oil) of R10EO8 was obtained and the result used to compare the many different characteristics of the more typical oxyethylene nonionic surfactants with the new polyglyceryl nonionic surfactants.     

Partition Coefficients in Octanol-Water and Liquid Chromatographic Behavior of Eight Oxygenated Triterpenes Which are Paired Stereo- and Positional Isomers

The chromatographic behavior of eight lanostanoid triterpenes, which are four pairs of C-3 epimers and two pairs of C-3/C-15 positional isomers, were determined by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). In the mobile phase systems of acetonitrile-water-acetic acid, methanol-water-acetic acid, and tetrahydrofuran-water-acetic acid, these triterpenes showed a very good linear relationship between capacity factors (k′) and volume fractions of organic modifiers. The partition coefficients (Poet) of these triterpenes in 1-octanol/water and capacity factors (k′) in RP-HPLC, when both expressed in logarithm, correlated linearly. This study showed that RP-HPLC is an effective method to evaluate the molecular hydrophobicity of multi-functional compounds which are stereo- and positional isomers.     

Phase diagrams and microstructure of aggregates in mixed ionic surfactant/foam booster systems

The phase behavior and microstructure of surfactant systems containing a new alkanolamide-type foam booster, dodecanoyl N-methyl ethanolamide (NMEA-12), were investigated by means of phase study and small angle X-ray scattering. Different from other similar alkanolamides, NMEA-12 possesses a low melting point and forms a lyotropic liquid-crystalline phase (L(alpha) phase) at room temperature. This is attributed to the attached methyl group, which increases the fluidity of the molecule. In the SDS/NMEA-12/water system, hexagonal and lamellar (L(alpha)) liquid-crystalline phases are obtained at significantly low surfactant concentrations. The stability of these phases decreases when SDS is replaced with a nonionic surfactant (C12EO8). However, for both ionic and nonionic surfactants, the effective area per surfactant molecule at the interface shrinks upon addition of NMEA-12, indicating that the surfactant layer is getting more compact. The possible implications of these results on the potential applications of NMEA-12 as foam stabilizer are discussed.     

Phase studies of surfactant–water systems

Significant advances have been made in establishing phase behavior of a number of nonionic, cationic, anionic, catanionic and fluorinated surfactants in water. An interest in phase equilibria existing at sub-ambient temperatures is developing. The study of cubic, intermediate, defective lamellar and sponge phases is an active field of research at present. Further work is needed in exploring thermodynamic stability of rigid nanodisks and densely packed vesicles. Colloidal aspects, thermodynamic and volumetric properties of the surfactant-containing systems deserve special attention.     

Silver(I) coordination polymers containing heteroditopic ureidopyridine ligands: the role of ligand isomerism, hydrogen bonding, and stacking interactions

New silver (I) coordination polymers has been successfully designed and synthesized using heteroditopic ureidopyridine ligands 1 and 2 via a combination of coordinations bonds, hydrogen bonding, and pi-pi stacking interactions. This study shows an example of the orientation of the pyridine nitrogen relative to the urea moiety (4-substituted, 1, or 3-substituted, 2), used to control the packing of resulting crystalline coordination polymers. The ureidopyridine ligands present some flexibility because of the conformational rotation around the central urea moiety. The co-complexation of the silver(I) cation by two pyridine moieties and of the PF(6)(-) counteranion by the urea moiety results in the formation of discrete [1(2)Ag](+)PF(6)(-), (3) and [2(2)Ag](+)PF(6)(-), (4) complexes presenting restricted rotation around the central urea functionality. The geometrical information contained in the structures of ligands 1 and 2 and the heteroditopic complexation of silver hexafluorophosphate are fully exploited in an independent manner resulting in the emergence of quasi-rigidly preorganized linear and angular building blocks of 3 and 4, respectively. Additional pi-pi stacking contacts involving interactions between the pi-donor benzene and the pi-acceptor pyridine systems reinforce and direct the self-assembly of the above-described combined structural motifs in the solid state. Accordingly, linear and tubular arrays of pi-pi stacked architectures are generated in the solid state by synergistic and sequential metal ion complexation, hydrogen bonding, and pi-pi stacking interactions.     

Chromatographic selectivity study of 4-fluorophenylacetic acid positional isomers separation

Unique properties of the fluorine atom stimulate widespread use and development of new organofluorine compounds in agrochemistry, biotechnology and pharmacology applications. However, relatively few synthetic methods exhibit a high degree of fluorination selectivity, which ultimately results in the presence of structurally related fluorinated isomers in the synthetic product. This outcome is undesirable from a pharmaceutical perspective as positional isomers possess different reactivity, biological activity and toxicity as compared to the desired product. It is advantageous to control positional isomers in the early stages of the synthetic process, as rejection and analysis of these isomers will likely become more difficult in later stages. The current work reports the development of a chromatographic analysis of 2- and 3-fluorophenylacetic acid positional isomer impurities in 4-fluorophenylacetic acid (4-FPAA), a building block in the synthesis of an active pharmaceutical ingredient. The method is employed as a part of a Quality by Design Approach to control purity of the starting material in order to eliminate the presence of undesirable positional isomers in the final drug substance. During method development, a wide range of chromatographic conditions and structurally related positional isomer probe molecules were exploited in an effort to gain insight into the specifics of the separation mechanism. For the systems studied it was shown that the choice of organic modifier played a key role in achieving acceptable separation. Further studies encompassed investigation of temperature influence on retention and selectivity of the FPAA isomers separation. Thermodynamic analysis of these data showed that the selectivity of the 2- and 4- fluorophenylacetic acids separation was dominated by an enthalpic process, while the selectivity of the 4- and 3-fluorophenylacetic acids separation was exclusively entropy driven (Delta(DeltaH degrees approximately 0). Studies of chromatographic behavior were complemented by solid state NMR experiments which provided valuable information regarding the relationship between stationary phase solvation and selectivity.     

Retention behavior of a homologous series and positional isomers of aliphatic amino acids in hydrophilic interaction chromatography

The retention behavior of several series of free α‐ and ω‐amino acids and positional isomers of amino pentanoic acid in the hydrophilic interaction chromatography mode (HILIC) was studied. The study was carried out on three stationary phases followed by post‐column derivatization with fluorescence detection in order to describe the retention mechanism of the tested amino acids. The effect of chromatographic conditions including acetonitrile content in the mobile phase, mobile phase pH (ranging from 3.5 to 6.5) and concentration of buffer in the mobile phase was investigated. The effect of the number of carbon atoms (n_C) in aliphatic chains of the individual homologue of α‐ and ω‐amino acids and the logarithm of the partition coefficient (logD) on retention was also a part of the presented study. A good correlation (r > 0.98) between the logk and logD values of amino acids or n_C, respectively, was observed. The described linear relationships were subsequently applied to predict the retention behavior of individual members of the homologous series of amino acids and to optimize the mobile phase composition in HILIC. The obtained results confirmed that the retention mechanism of α‐amino acids, ω‐amino acids and positional isomers of amino acids was based on the logD values and the number of carbon atoms in the aliphatic chains of amino acids. The elution order of ω‐amino acids and positional isomers of amino pentanoic acid was strongly dependent on the mobile phase pH in the investigated range whereas the retention factors of all α‐amino acids remained essentially unchanged on all tested stationary phases.     

对-叔丁基杯[8]芳烃键合固定相的制备及表征

合成了一种新的对-叔丁基杯[8]芳烃的高效液相色谱键合固定相,考察了多环芳烃、苯甲酸酯、邻苯二甲酸酯、苯的单官能团取代物在该键合相上的反相液相色谱保留行为,并以甲醇-水作为流动相分离了氨基苯酚的邻、间、对取代位置异构体．研究结果发现,该键合相具有明显的反相特征,并讨论了可能的分离机理．     

Physicochemical characterization of PEG1500-12-acyloxy-stearate micelles and liquid crystalline phases

PEG 12-acyloxy-stearates are used as drug delivery carriers that have low cell damage effects. The mechanical and physical properties surrounding these processes and surfactants are still however not known. In this study, the physicochemical micellar properties of PEG 12-acyloxy-stearates were characterized by optical microscopic, nuclear magnetic resonance, and small-angle X-ray scattering techniques. We determined the phase diagrams of the surfactants as a function of surfactant concentration and temperature, the micellar size and shape, and micellar dynamics. We found that each surfactant has a micellar, cubic Im3m, and hexagonal phase. The aggregation number in the discrete cubic phase, as determined by small-angle X-ray scattering, was approximately 150 for each surfactant, and showed no measurable chain-length dependence. The diffusion coefficients of the surfactant showed a discontinuity between the micellar and cubic phases, where the cubic phases gave very low values on the order of 10(-)(16) m(2) s(-)(1): this value indicates a non-bicontinuous cubic structure. In summary, these surfactants behave to a large extent as nonionic poly(ethylene glycol) surfactants with extended PEG headgroups.     

The influence of hydrophobic counterions on micellar growth of ionic surfactants

This review covers the effects of hydrophobic counterions on the phase behavior of ionic surfactants and the properties of the phases. Mixing hydrophobic counterions with ionic surfactant micellar solutions may initiate the micellar growth and transform the micellar microstructure into different morphologies. This behavior may also be achieved by mixing ionic surfactants with hydrophilic counterions, although higher counterionic concentrations are then required. First, the role of hydrophilic and hydrophobic counterions in regards to micelle growth is discussed. Second, the effect of the hydrophobic counterion on the self-assembly of cationic and anionic surfactants and their viscoelastic behavior are presented. Third, the relationships between geometry, hydrophobicity and their consequences on micellar growth for different hydrophobic counterions are reviewed. Forth, the influence of hydrophobic counterion substituents (substitution pattern) on the phase behavior is discussed. Some results we previously obtained for different isomers of hydroxy naphthaoic acids and the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium hydroxide are included. With these systems the effect that the hydrophobic counterion microenvironment has on the phase behavior, rheological behavior and the micellar microstructure is discussed. The results from other research groups are also discussed.     

Separation of cationic analytes by nonionic micellar electrokinetic chromatography using polyoxyethylene lauryl ether surfactants with different polyoxyethylene length

Although nonionic micellar electrokinetic chromatography is used for the separation of charged compounds that are not easily separated by capillary zone electrophoresis, the effect of the hydrophilic moiety of the nonionic surfactant has not been studied well. In this study, the separation of ultraviolet‐absorbing amino acids was studied in electrokinetic chromatography using neutral polyoxyethylene lauryl ether surfactants (Adekatol) in the separation solution. The effect of the polyethylene moiety (the number of repeating units was from 6.5 to 50) of the hydrophobic test amino acids (methionine, tryptophan, and tysorine) was studied using a 10 cm effective length capillary. The separation mechanism was based on hydrophobic as well as hydrogen bonding interactions at the micellar surface, which was made of the polyoxyethylene moiety. The length of the polyoxyethylene moiety of the surfactants was not important in nonionic micellar electrokinetic chromatography mode.