Micelles conformations

Bile salts are natural and chiral anionic surfactants which form helical micelles of reversed micelle conformation. The first report on enantiomer separation by MEKC using bile salts was the enantioseparation of... 

Finally, the solution behavior of thermoresponsive multiblock copolymers has been reported [50]. Multiblocks of PDMA and PNIPAM with sequences of different molecular weights were studied upon increasing the solution temperature. At elevated temperatures the PDMA block is water soluble, while the PNIPAM block becomes insoluble. Depending on the molecular weight of the sequences, the multiblock copolymer ean adopt imimolecular flower-like micelle conformation or can aggregate through intermoleeular interactions. 

Bile salts are natural and chiral anionic surfactants which form helical micelles of reversed micelle conformation. The first report on enantiomer separation by MEKC using bile salts was the enantioseparation of dansylated DL-amino acids (Dns-o,L-AAs) and, since then, numerous papers have been available. Nonconjugated bile salts, such as sodium cholate (SC) and sodium deoxycholate (SDC), can be used at pH > 5, whereas taurine-conjugated forms, such as sodium taurocholate (STC) and sodium taurodeox-ycholate (STDC), can be used under more acidic conditions (i.e., pH > 3). Several enantiomers, such as diltiazem hydrochloride and related compounds, carboline derivatives, trimetoquinol and related compounds, binaphthyl derivatives, Dhs-dl-AAs, mephenytoin and its metabolites, and 3-hydroxy-l,4-benzodiazepins have been successfully separated by MEKC with bile salts. In general, STDC is considered as the the most effective chiral selector among the bile salts used in MEKC. 

Related works that deserve attention are those devoted to the dielectric properties of ternary micellar solutions build up with water, a hydrocarbon and either AY or AOT aerosols (25,54). For instance, Elcke and Shepherd (25) suggested that the non-linear variations of the dielectric relaxation increment and the sudden increase in conductivity observed upon increasing the water content in water/AY/benzene systems could be interpreted in terms of association process and micelle conformational change. 

The behavior of mixed micelles conforms to existing theories. A remarkable effect of alcohols on the relaxation associated with micelle formation/breakdown has been shown and attributed to the effect of alcohol on the size distribution curve. The possibility of a coexistence of two populations of micelles, one alcohol-rich and the other surfactant-rich, may explain the observed kinetic behavior. Small alcohol-rich micelles may play the role of carrier between surfactant-rich micelles. 

Yusa et al. showed that the random copolymer of 11-aminododecanoic acid and sodium 2-(acrylamidopropane-sulfonate) forms unimolecular micelles in water at pH < 5. At pH > 5 the unimolecular micelle conformation is transformed into an open-chain conformation. P3rrene fluorescence measurements showed that the transformation is completed in less than 6 min (dead time of the measurements). 

Extensive discussions have focused on the conformation of the alkyl chains in the interior ". It has been has demonstrated that the alkyl chains of micellised surfactant are not fully extended. Starting from the headgroup, the first two or three carbon-carbon bonds are usually trans, whereas gauche conformations are likely to be encountered near the centre of tlie chain ". As a result, the methyl termini of the surfactant molecules can be located near the surface of the micelle, and have even been suggested to be able to protrude into the aqueous phase "". They are definitely not all gathered in the centre of tire micelle as is often suggested in pictorial representations. NMR studies have indicated that the hydrocarbon chains in a micelle are highly mobile, comparable to the mobility of a liquid alkane ... 

A number of examples have been studied in recent years, including liquid sulfur [1-3,8] and selenium [4], poly(o -methylstyrene) [5-7], polymer-like micelles [9,11], and protein filaments [12]. Besides their importance for applications, EP pose a number of basic questions concerning phase transformations, conformational and relaxational properties, dynamics, etc. which distinguish them from conventional dead polymers in which the reaction of polymerization has been terminated. EP motivate intensive research activity in this field at present. 

In some of these models (see Sec. Ill) the surfactants are still treated as flexible chains [24]. This allows one to study the role of the chain length and chain conformations. For example, the chain degrees of freedom are responsible for the internal phase transitions in monolayers and bilayers, in particular the hquid/gel transition. The chain length and chain architecture determine the efficiency of an amphiphile and thus influence the phase behavior. Moreover, they affect the shapes and size distributions of micelles. Chain models are usually fairly universal, in the sense that they can be used to study many different phenomena. 

In a class of reahstic lattice models, hydrocarbon chains are placed on a diamond lattice in order to imitate the zigzag structure of the carbon backbones and the trans and gauche bonds. Such models have been used early on to study micelle structures [104], monolayers [105], and bilayers [106]. Levine and coworkers have introduced an even more sophisticated model, which allows one to consider unsaturated C=C bonds and stiffer molecules such as cholesterol a monomer occupies several lattice sites on a cubic lattice, the saturated bonds between monomers are taken from a given set of allowed bonds with length /5, and torsional potentials are introduced to distinguish between trans and "gauche conformations [107,108]. 

The size and shape of micelles also are affected by fluormation Whereas hydrocarbon surfactants usually form spbencal micelles, linear fluorocarbon surfactants tend to produce larger rodhke speacs [31, 32 This is attnbuted to two inherent charac-tenshcs of the (CF2) chain (1) it adopts a hehcal rather than a linear zigzag conformation [dd 34, 35, 36], and (2) it is much suffer than the (CH2) cham [d5 37, 38] The relatively sbff, helical (CFj) chains thus prefer cylindrical to sphencal packing... 

As mentioned above, water structure in reversed micelles deviates considerably from the structure in the bulk-phase. Therefore, the hydration shell of macromolecules entrapped in reversed micellar systems should be changed and thus also their conformation. According to the results of several authors this is indeed the case. 

The conformation of bovine myelin basic protein (MBP) in AOT/isooctane/water reversed micellar systems was studied by Waks et al. 67). This MBP is an extrinsic water soluble protein which attains an extended conformation in aqueous solution 68 but is more density packed at the membrane surface. The solubilization of MBP in the AOT reversed micelles depends on the water/AOT-ratio w0 68). The maximum of solubilization was observed at a w0-value as low as 5.56. The same value was obtained for another major protein component of myelin, the Folch-Pi proteolipid 69). According to fluorescence emission spectra of MBP, accessibility of the single tryptophane residue seems to be decreased in AOT reversed micelles. From CD-spectra one can conclude that there is a higher conformational rigidity in reversed micelles and a more ordered aqueous environment. 

The pioneering work on amphiphilic polyelectrolytes goes back to 1951, when Strauss et al. [25] first synthesized amphiphilic polycations by quaternization of poly(2-vinylpyridine) with n-dodecyl bromide. They revealed that the long alkyl side chains attached to partially quaternized poly(vinylpyridine)s tended to aggregate in aqueous solution so that the polymers assumed a compact conformation when the mole fraction of the hydrophobic side chains exceeded a certain critical value. Thus, Strauss et al. became the first to show experimentally the intramolecular micellation of amphiphilic polymers and the existence of a critical content of hydrophobic residues which may be compared to the critical micelle concentration of ordinary surfactants. They called such amphiphilic polyelectrolytes polysoaps [25],... 

The conformation of [34-65] bacterioopsin polypeptide incorporated into perdeuterated sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles in the presence of trifluoroethanol was investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) [184],... 

Mechanisms of micellar reactions have been studied by a kinetic study of the state of the proton at the surface of dodecyl sulfate micelles [191]. Surface diffusion constants of Ni(II) on a sodium dodecyl sulfate micelle were studied by electron spin resonance (ESR). The lateral diffusion constant of Ni(II) was found to be three orders of magnitude less than that in ordinary aqueous solutions [192]. Migration and self-diffusion coefficients of divalent counterions in micellar solutions containing monovalent counterions were studied for solutions of Be2+ in lithium dodecyl sulfate and for solutions of Ca2+ in sodium dodecyl sulfate [193]. The structural disposition of the porphyrin complex and the conformation of the surfactant molecules inside the micellar cavity was studied by NMR on aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles [194]. 

Peculiar DNA architecture was demonstrated in 25% aqueous ethanol when DNA was complexed with series of cationic detergents in the presence of poly(glutamic acid) [124]. Electron microscopy and x-ray scattering demonstrated that DNA can pack cetyltrimethylammonium bromide molecules into rodlike micelles, which form a hexagonal lattice. Interestingly, circular dichroism spectroscopy revealed that in these complexes DNA adopts left-handed conformation. 

The structure of these globular aggregates is characterized by a micellar core formed by the hydrophilic heads of the surfactant molecules and a surrounding hydrophobic layer constituted by their opportunely arranged alkyl chains whereas their dynamics are characterized by conformational motions of heads and alkyl chains, frequent exchange of surfactant monomers between bulk solvent and micelle, and structural collapse of the aggregate leading to its dissolution, and vice versa [2-7]. 

The conformational dynamics of chain segments near the head groups is more restricted than that of those far from the micellar core [8]. Moreover, to avoid the presence of energetically unfavorable void space in the micellar aggregate and as a consequence of the intermolecular interactions, surfactant molecules tend to assume some preferential conformations and a staggered position with respect to the micellar core [9]. A schematic representation of a reversed micelle is shown in Figure 1. 

As a result of the micellar environment, enzymes and proteins acquire novel conformational and/or dynamic properties, which has led to an interesting research perspective from both the biophysical and the biotechnological points of view [173-175], From the comparison of some properties of catalase and horseradish peroxidase solubilized in wa-ter/AOT/n-heptane microemulsions with those in an aqueous solution of AOT it was ascertained that the secondary structure of catalase significantly changes in the presence of an aqueous micellar solution of AOT, whereas in AOT/n-heptane reverse micelles it does not change. On the other hand, AOT has no effect on horseradish peroxidase in aqueous solution, whereas slight changes in the secondary structure of horseradish peroxidase in AOT/n-heptane reverse micelles occur [176],... 

For many solubilized enzymes the greatest catalytic activity and/or changes in conformation are found at R < 12, namely, when the competition for the water in the system between surfactant head groups and biopolymers is strong. This emphasizes the importance of the hydration water surrounding the biopolymer on its reactivity and conformation [13], It has been reported that enzymes incorporated in the aqueous polar core of the reversed micelles are protected against denaturation and that the distribution of some proteins, such as chymotrypsine, ribonuclease, and cytochrome c, is well described by a Poisson distribution. The protein state and reactivity were found markedly different from those observed in bulk aqueous solution [178,179],... 

The use of ordered supramolecular assemblies, such as micelles, monolayers, vesicles, inverted micelles, and lyotropic liquid crystalline systems, allows for the controlled nucleation of inorganic materials on molecular templates with well-defined structure and surface chemistry. Poly(propyleneimine) dendrimers modified with long aliphatic chains are a new class of amphiphiles which display a variety of aggregation states due to their conformational flexibility [38]. In the presence of octadecylamine, poly(propyleneimine) dendrimers modified with long alkyl chains self-assemble to form remarkably rigid and well-defined aggregates. When the aggregate dispersion was injected into a supersaturated... 

A. Piccolo, S. Nardi, and G. Concheri, Micelle-like conformation of humic substances as revealed by size exclusion chromatography. Chemosphere 33 595 (1996). 

More recently Frechet and Gitsov [130] used a similar approach as above and synthesized a novel series of dendritic copolymers derived from a central penta-erythritol core unit. These hybrid star molecules behaved as unimolecular micelles with different core-shell conformational-structures as a response to the polarity of the solvent used. 

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