Keratin cystine reactivity in microemulsion media: influence of cosurfactant chain length

Copper- and ligand-free Sonogashira reaction catalyzed by palladium in microemulsion: Effects of surfactant and alcohol

A rapid copper- and ligand-free Sonogashira reaction was performed in an oil-in-water microemulsion. Palladium nanoparticles can be in situ formed in the microemulsion without other reductants. The microemulsion containing in situ-formed nano-Pd is an efficient system for the Sonogashira reaction. The reactions were faster in the microemulsion than in micelles. The effects of surfactant, alcohol, and temperature are discussed. Excellent yield of the Sonogashira reaction catalyzed by 0.5 mol% palladium could be achieved at 80 degrees C within 2 min.

Microemulsion breakdown by pervaporation technique: Effect of the alkyl chain length of n-alkanol, a cosurfactant of the microemulsion

Two sets of microemulsions, cyclohexane- and water-rich ones, were prepared with the following n-alkanols as cosurfactants: n-propanol, n-butanol, n-pentanol, and n-hexanol. The results showed the influence of the alkyl chain length of the n-alkanol on the permselectivity properties of the pervaporation technique in the breakdown of the microemulsions. The variations of the total flux rate J and the enrichment factor beta were in parallel with the effect of the cosurfactant on the swelling extent of the PDMS membrane.

The influence of structure and composition of a reverse SDS microemulsion on enzymatic activities and electrical conductivities

The activity of the enzyme horse radish peroxidase (HRP) is studied in a series of reverse microemulsions composed of dodecane, aqueous buffer, sodium dodecylsufate (SDS) and alcohols of the homologous series 1-butanol to 1-octanol. The HRP catalyzed reaction is the oxidation of a classical water soluble substrate, the 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) by hydrogen peroxide. In parallel electrical conductivity measurements are performed on the same solutions. The structural changes in the microemulsions, as inferred by the conductivity measurements, correlate remarkably well with the changes in the enzymatic activities. In particular it is found that (a) the maximum activity of the enzyme is always related to its optimum hydration and that this hydration can be related to the microemulsion structures, (b) the enzyme inhibition caused by the alcohols in microemulsions is a consequence of both the solubility of the alcohols in the buffer and the rigidity of the interfacial film. Consequently, it can be concluded that enzymatic activity measurements are a valuable tool to study confined systems such as microemulsions and, in particular, the amount of available hydration water. Enzymatic activities can be finely tuned by small changes in microemulsion structures, probably in a predictive way.