Spin probes in micellar and polymer self-associating systems

The results of studies of micellar and self-associating polymer systems by spin probe ESR spectroscopy are summarized. The local dynamics and structures of low-molecular-weight micelles built of cationic surfactants bearing long alkyl chains (from C₁₆ to C₂₂), gels of hydrophobically modified polymers, polymer micelles, micellar complexes of nonionic surfactant (Brij58) with hydrogels based on polyacrylic acid, and associates formed in aqueous solutions of poly(diphenylenesulfophthalide) are discussed. Interest in these systems is caused by prospects of their practical use as carriers in drug delivery, in biotechnology, for the enhancement of oil production, and in other purposes.     

Hydrogen-transfer reactions from phenols to TEMPO prefluorescent probes in micellar systems

A nitroxide prefluorescent probe has been used to evaluate local reactivity of antioxidants in micellar systems. An apparent rate constant that directly reflects the relevance of antioxidant hydrophobicity on the reaction toward nitroxide radicals has been defined. Dramatic increases in this parameter for quercetin are shown on moving from methanol to micellar media: 90 and 230 fold enhancements for SDS and Triton X100 micelles, respectively. This is a clear consequence of the favorable partition of reactants in the micelles.     

Reactions in micellar systems

The notion of "green chemistry" has encouraged even synthetic organic chemists to include water as a solvent. Incredible selectivities and activities can be achieved through the addition of amphiphiles with a defined structure. The morphology of supramolecular assemblies or associates formed by surfactants vary according to the temperature and concentration. As a rule, reactions are typically conducted using simple spherical aggregates, that is, micelles in the nanometer range. The strong polarity gradient present between the hydrophilic surface and the hydrophobic core of the micelle means that both nonpolar and polar reagents can be solubilized. This solubilization results in reactants becoming more concentrated within the micelle than in the surrounding water phase and leads to an acceleration of the reaction and causes selective effects. The kinetic treatment of reactions in micellar systems can be accomplished by considering them as microheterogeneous two-phase systems.     

Computer simulations of micellar systems

Works published during the last decade devoted to simulation of micellar solutions of different surfactants are reviewed. The main attention is focused on studying the local structure of spherical and cylindrical micelles and their surface layers in solutions, as well as problems relevant to self-aggregation kinetics.     

Second CMC in surfactant micellar systems

Experimental reports of surfactant systems displaying a second critical micelle concentration (second CMC) have been surveyed. It turns out that surfactant micelles usually show a growth behavior with some typical features. (i) Micelles grow weakly at low surfactant concentrations but may switch to a much stronger growth behavior at higher concentrations. The second CMC is defined as the point of transition from weakly to strongly growing micelles. (ii) Micelles are found to be non-spherically shaped below the second CMC. (iii) At the second CMC micelles are found to be much smaller, with aggregation numbers typically 100–200, than expected for flexible micelles. (iv) Micelles of intermediate size are present in a narrow concentration regime close to the second CMC. (v) Micelles grow much stronger above the second CMC than expected from a sphere-to-rod transition. The conventional spherocylindrical micelle model predicts a smooth growth behavior that contradicts the appearance of a second CMC. Modifying the model by means of including swollen end caps neither account for the presence of micelles with intermediate size, nor the strong growth behavior above the second CMC. Taking into account micelle flexibility is not consistent with the rather low micelle aggregation numbers observed at the second CMC. On the other hand, a recently proposed alternative theoretical approach, the general micelle model, have been demonstrated to take into account basically all features that are typical of experimentally observed micellar growth behaviors.     

Titrations of sulphonamides in cationic micellar systems

A titrimetric determination of some sulphonamides with 0.1 M sodium hydroxide in the presence of hexadecylpyridinium chloride is described. Potentiometric titrations are slow; visual titrations are satisfactory. The pK_a shift can be interpreted in the light of general micellar behaviour.     

Dissociation of acids in aqueous micellar systems

Incorporation in charged micelles induces large pKa shifts for a number of acids of varying type. Analysis of the measurements in terms of simple electrostatic theory is reasonably satisfactory in view of uncertainties regarding the net charge on the micelle and the exact character of its surface. The behavior of the long-chain fatty acids, whose mode of incorporation in micelles is least uncertain, confirms the suggestion of others that the effective dielectric constant at the micellar surface is quite low.     

ESR lineshapes and kinetic behavior of nitroxide spin probes in micellar solutions

The ESR spectrum of the nitroxide radical 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxide (TEMPO) has been investigated in aqueous solutions of the following surfactants:n-octylammonium bromide, sodiumn-octylsulfonate,n-decylammonium bromide,n-docecyltrimethylammonium bromide, and sodiumn-dodecylsulfate. The spectra were recorded at 25° C as function of surfactant concentration in the ranges 0–0.5m for the C₁₀ and C₁₂ compounds and 0–1.0m for the others. Analysis of the spectra using computer simulation methods yields the hyperfine coupling constanta _H and the widthW _H of the partially resolved lines in the proton hyperfine structure. Changes in these variables with surfactant concentration are interpreted from medium effects on the magnetic properties of the radical, kinetics of radical-micelle interactions, and rotational dynamics of the nitroxide probe in these solutions.     

Contiguous versus segmented hydrophobicity in micellar systems

This paper addresses a question not yet posed systematically in surfactant chemistry: How do the colloidal properties of surfactants respond to insertion of non-hydrocarbon functionalities (i.e., ester groups) within chains that are normally entirely hydrocarbon? In answering this question, two classes of such chain-modified surfactants were discovered. One class forms only small aggregates with noncooperative self-assembly, low foaming, high areas of occupancy at the air/water interface, and weak solid-adsorption and solubilization properties. The other class is much more normal with regard to these properties and, in fact, can even exceed conventional surfactants in mesitylene solubilization. Differences between the two categories of chain-modified surfactants originate from the degree of segmentation of the hydrocarbon and, in particular, upon the location of the longest segment. Segmented hydrophobicity, having in principle a "hydrophobic potential" similar to that of a contiguous hydrophobicity of equal length, can induce aggregation but, concurrently, alters the mode of assembly into films and micelles.     

手性胶束中的不对称Micheal反主尖

本文研究了手性表面活性剂N,N-二甲基-N-十二烷基麻黄素溴化铵及N,N-二甲基-N-十六烷基麻黄素溴化铵所形成的手性胶束体系中,以六氢吡啶作为碱催化剂,硝基甲烷或硫酚对查耳酮类化合物的Michael加成反应.     

Microrheology of wormlike micellar fluids from the diffusion of colloidal probes

The microrheology of cationic micellar solutions has been investigated as a function of added organic salts using quasielastic light scattering (QELS). Two organic salts, sodium p-toluene sulfonate and sodium salicylate, were used to induce microstructural changes in cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) micelles. The mean-squared displacement (MSD) of polystyrene probe particles embedded in CTAB micellar solutions was monitored by QELS in the single-scattering regime. Through the use of the generalized Stokes-Einstein relationship, the frequency-dependent complex shear moduli of each fluid were estimated from the Laplace transform of the corresponding MSD. The salt-induced transition from nearly spherical to elongated wormlike micelles and consequent changes in fluid response from viscous to viscoelastic are clearly captured by microrheology.     

Membrane osmometry of aqueous micellar systems

Summary The number average micellar molecular weights,M _n , were determined with the application of membrane osmometry, for various nonionic and a cationic surfactant, in aqueous solutions. These results show that these micelles are monodisperse, as also reported by other investigators. The dependence ofM _n on temperature was also studied. It was found that both the nonionic and the cationic micelles showed an abrupt change in logM versus temperature plots. In the case of nonionics, the abrupt change was observed at approximately 30 °C lower than the cloud-point.Presented at the 25th Colloid-Meeting in Munich, October 13–15, 1971.     

Mixed micellar systems of cleavable surfactants

Previous studies have shown that the alkaline hydrolysis of cleavable ester surfactants is strongly affected by aggregation. The alkaline hydrolysis of the cationic species decyl betainate (DB) is strongly enhanced by micellization, whereas the nonionic species tetra(ethylene glycol)mono-n-octanoate (TEO) is virtually protected when residing in aggregates. In the present work, mixtures of DB and TEO were studied at concentrations above the critical micelle concentration, and the rate of hydrolysis of each surfactant in the presence of the other was assessed. The micellar interaction parameter (beta) was determined from the critical micelle concentrations of various mixtures of the two surfactants. The result (beta = -2.4) indicates a moderate net attraction. The hydrolysis of the surfactants was monitored using 1H NMR. It was shown that the hydrolysis of DB exhibits the main characteristics of the pseudophase ion-exchange model and that the reaction rate decreases with an increasing molar ratio of TEO. There are indications that the hydrolysis rate parallels the expected total counterion binding to the mixed micelles. The hydrolysis of TEO was not affected by the presence of DB. However, complementary experiments showed that it is possible to accelerate or retard the hydrolysis of TEO by coaggregation with stable cationic or anionic surfactants, respectively.     

Superactivity of peroxidase solubilized in reversed micellar systems

Vaccinium mirtyllus peroxidase solubilized in reversed micelles was used for the oxidation of guaiacol. Some relevant parameters for the enzymatic activity, such as pH,w _o (molar ratio water/surfactant), surfactant type and concentration, and cosurfactant concentration, were investigated. The peroxidase showed higher activities in reversed micelles than in aqueous solution. The stability of the peroxidase in reversed micelles was also studied, namely, the effect ofw _o and temperature on enzyme deactivation. The peroxidase displayed higher stabilities in CTAB/hexanol in isooctane reversed micelles, with halflife times higher than 500 h.     

Gemini surfactant-nonionic polymer mixed micellar systems

Tensiometry, dynamic light scattering, and optical spectrophotometry are employed to quantitatively characterize the aggregation behavior of a gemini (dicationic) surfactant in aqueous solutions in the presence of poly(ethylene glycol) with a molecular mass of 20000 Da or a Pluronic F127 block copolymer with a molecular mass of 12600 Da. It is shown that the formation of surfactant-polymer mixed aggregates decreases the positive surface potential of gemini surfactant micelles and is one of the main reasons for weakening of the micellar catalytic effect in hydrolysis of carboxylic acid esters.     

Interactions of halophenols with aqueous micellar systems

The interaction of a series of halophenols with sodium dodecyl sulphate and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide micelles was studied by different techniques (high-performance liquid chromatography, apparent acidity constant, spectral shift). The contributions of the halogens to the free energy of transfer from water to micelles are calculted. Correlations between the free energy of transfer for water/micellar solutions and for the classical octanol/water system are good. The application of micellar systems in chromatography and acid-base titrations is verified.     

Positron annihilation spectroscopy and micellar systems

Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) has emerged as a powerful technique for investigating structural changes, phase transitions and microenvironmental transformations in a variety of systems. The process of molecular aggregation in micellar systems is known to be cooperative and size limited; it shows features similar to that of a classical phase transition. Similarly, the changes in the concentration of surfactant and the solubilizate bring about several microstructural and conformational transformations in these systems. High sensitivity of positron annihilation parameters to such changes makes it a potential candidate for investigating micellar and microemulsion systems. This paper deals with this aspect of positron annihilation spectroscopy. Applications of this technique to investigate conformational, structural and microenvironmental transformations in micellar and microemulsion systems are discussed. Its superiority over the conventional techniques in such investigations is demonstrated. It is shown that this technique reveals finer details of otherwise considered to be single phase regions in a phase diagram. Its usefulness in delineating phase boundaries and hence in mapping of phase diagrams is also discussed.     

Characterization of bromide ions in charge-stacked zwitterionic micellar systems

A novel zwitterionic surfactant, N-dodecyl-N,N,N',N'-tetra-methyl-ethylene-di-ammonio-propane-sulfonate bromide (DEPB), has been synthesized, and Br(-) involved in the micellar system has been characterized by potentiometry, NMR, and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS). Although the dissociation degree of Br(-) from the micelle evaluated by potentiometry almost agrees with that determined by NMR, the former is significantly smaller than the latter over the entire range of concentrations of DEPB. This is explained by assuming that the bromide ions in the micellar system have several different peripheral structures. XAFS has given significant insight into the hydration structures of Br(-) involved in the system. Some of the bromide ions partitioned into the micelle are dehydrated and are directly bound by the ammonium groups in the DEP molecules. However, some of the bromide ions are still completely hydrated even when they are partitioned into the micelles. The average hydration number of the bromide ions directly bound by the ammonium groups was determined to be approximately 3.3. The partial dehydration of Br(-) is possibly facilitated by the characteristic hydration circumstances provided by the charge-stacked structure of the surfactant and by the resulting thick palisade layer of the DEP micelle.