Hydrophobic molecules, separations involving

Micelles forming above the c.m.c. incorporate hydrophobic molecules in addition to those dissolved in the aqueous phase, which results in apparently increased aqueous concentrations. It has to be noted, however, that a micelle-solubilised chemical is not truly water-dissolved, and, as a consequence, is differently bioavailable than a water-dissolved chemical. The bioavailability of hydrophobic organic compounds was, for instance, reduced by the addition of surfactant micelles when no excess separate phase compound was present and water-dissolved molecules became solubilised by the micelles [69], In these experiments, bacterial uptake rates were a function of the truly water-dissolved substrate concentration. It seems therefore that micellar solubilisation increases bioavailability only when it transfers additional separate phase substrate into the aqueous phase, e.g. by increasing the rates of desorption or dissolution, and when micelle-solubilised substrate is efficiently transferred to the microorganisms. Theoretically, this transfer can occur exclusively via the water phase, involving release of substrate molecules from micelles, molecular diffusion through the aqueous phase and microbial uptake of water-dissolved molecules. This was obviously the case, when bacterial uptake rates of naphthalene and phenanthrene responded directly to micelle-mediated lowered truly water-dissolved concentrations of these chemicals [69]. These authors concluded from their experiments that micellar naphthalene and phenanthrene had to leave the micellar phase and diffuse through the water phase to become... 

Extraction and separation of plant phenolics [272], corticosteroids [268], verapamil [273], hydrophobic molecules [274], and ingredients of a medicine for common cold [275] were recently performed using this technique. Seifar et al. [276] gave the mechanisms involved in such separations. 

Because of the complex nature of most biological samples, a single fractionation technique may not be adequate for the separation of the wide range of molecules present. Better resolution of some molecules is obtainal when properties other than differences in size are exploited. These include differences in ionic characteristics, affinity for other molecules and hydrophobicity. In separations that involve any one or more of these properties, the sample constituents interact with the column material and are then eluted with a suitable eluant. As a consequence of this interaction, and the use of eluants, whose properties may not closely resemble those of the medium found in vivo, the metal may dissociate from the ligand. In addition, as the complexity of the sample increases it is difficult to predict the behaviour of the various constituents. Undesirable effects leading to irreversible interaction between some molecules in the sample and the column packing material, degradation and decomposition of some constituents may result. Furthermore, it may be difficult to rid the column of certain trace metal contamination. 

If we envisage placing hydrophobic molecules in water the transfer of such molecules from a pure state to an aqueous solution is an unfavorable process due to the large decrease of entropy which results from the reorganization of the water molecules surrounding the solute. The region separating an immiscible liquid from water is perceived as an ill-defined border where hydrophilic species are forced to meet hydrophobic partners. The relative insolubility of reactants conditions the feasibility of the aqueous reaction in which they are involved. If one substrate is completely insoluble the reaction does not occur. In contrast, if all the substrates are totally soluble there is no extra kinetic effect except the normal effect due to the... 

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