Sulfate head groups

Surfactants are widely used in industrial chemistry to modify the behavior of aqueous solutions. Common surfactant head groups include carboxylate (— CO2), sulfonate (-SO3), sulfate (-OSO3 ), and ammonium (-NH3 ). The negative charge of anionic head groups usually is neutralized by Na , and the positive charge of ammonium usually is neutralized by Cl . These ions are used because they are nontoxic and their salts are highly soluble. 

Most studies of micellar systems have been carried out on synthetic surfactants where the polar or ionic head group may be cationic, e.g. an ammonium or pyridinium ion, anionic, e.g. a carboxylate, sulfate or sulfonate ion, non-ionic, e.g. hydroxy-compound, or zwitterionic, e.g. an amine oxide or a carboxylate or sulfonate betaine. Surfactants are often given trivial or trade names, and abbreviations based on either trivial or systematic names are freely used (Fendler and Fendler, 1975). Many commercial surfactants are mixtures so that purity can be a major problem. In addition, some surfactants, e.g. monoalkyl sulfates, decompose slowly in aqueous solution. Some examples of surfactants are given in Table 1, together with values of the critical micelle concentration, cmc. This is the surfactant concentration at the onset of micellization (Mukerjee and Mysels, 1970) and can therefore be taken to be the maximum concentration of monomeric surfactant in a solution (Menger and Portnoy, 1967). Its value is related to the change of free energy on micellization (Fendler and Fendler, 1975 Lindman and Wennerstrom, 1980). 

Various detergents were examined for their effect on lather properties. It was observed that alkyl aryl sulfonates (like sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate) and alkyl sulfates (like sodium lauryl sulfate) had the biggest impact as foam boosters. This is not surprising, as both surfactants have head groups with high charge density, which is important for achieving rapid and stable foam [20],... 

FORMATION. Aqueous solutions of highly surface-active substances spontaneously tend to reduce interfacial energy of solute-solvent interactions by forming micelles. The critical micelle concentration (or, c.m.c.) is the threshold surfactant concentration, above which micelle formation (also known as micellization) is highly favorable. For sodium dodecyl sulfate, the c.m.c. is 5.6 mM at 0.01 M NaCl or about 3.1 mM at 0.03 M NaCl. The lower c.m.c. observed at higher salt concentration results from a reduction in repulsive forces among the ionic head groups on the surface of micelles made up of ionic surfactants. As would be expected for any entropy-driven process, micelle formation is less favorable as the temperature is lowered. 

In a recent paper, the interaction of various simple flavonoids with an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in aqueous solution, has been studied through absorption spectroscopy as a function of the concentration of the surfactant above and below the critical micelle concentration.The approximate number of additive molecules (flavonoids) incorporated per micelle was estimated at a particular concentration of SDS. Incorporation of flavonoids in micelles shifted the UV absorption bands toward higher wavelengths, and the bathochromic shifts also depended upon the nature of the surfactant head group. 

The second factor, namely the head group interaction, can also influence the surface properties of mixed surfactant markedly. In particular, anionic/catlonic surfactant mixtures exhibit the largest effect (17,18). In nonionic/anionic surfactant mixtures, synergistic effects can still take place to a significant extent, as revealed in Figure 3 (pH 10.9, nonionic amine oxide with anionic long chain sulfate), since insertion of nonionic surfactant molecules into an ionic surfactant molecular assembly minimises electrostatic repulsion (19). 

For anionic monolayers, the reversal of the tt-A isotherms can be explained in terms of a competition between the anionic head groups and the alkali metal cations for molecules of water. If a modified Stern-type model of the plane interface is assumed, this interface will be composed of distinct adsorption sites, with counterions (cations) of finite size that can adsorb on these sites if the standard free energies of adsorption are favorable. If the anionic head group is more polarizable than water, as with carboxylic acids or phosphates, the hydration shell of the cation is incompletely filled, and the order of cation sizes near the interface is K+ > Na+ > Li+. When the polarizability of the anionic group is less than that of water, as with the sulfates, the lithium cation becomes the most hydrated one, and the order of cation sizes becomes Li+ > Na+ > K+. 

The head groups of these surfactant molecules are negatively charged. The most widely used anionic surfactants are those containing carboxylate groups, such as soaps, sulfonate, and sulfate ions Soaps, which are salts of weak carboxylic acids, are formed by the hydrolysis of fats (triglycerides) by sodium hydroxide. Sulfonates, such as sodium docusate and decane sulfonate, have been widel used in pharmaceutical systems. The most popular alkyl sulfate is sodium lauryl sulfate, which is... 

Syndecan consists of a core protein that is inserted through the cell membrane and contains both heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate chains. Glypican is covalently linked to the head group of membrane phospholipids in the plasma membrane and contains only heparan sulfate side chains. 

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