Interaction of hydroxypropylcellulose with aqueous surfactants: fluorescence probe studies and a look at pyrene-labeled polymer

4,9- and 4,10-Substituted pyrenes: synthesis, successful isolation, and optoelectronic properties

We report herein a way to prepare and purify optoelectronic functional 4,9- and 4,10-substituted pyrene isomers. By tuning the size of substituents, the designed 4,9- and 4,10-isomers can be successfully isolated by recycling preparative size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) and/or repeated recrystallization. The structure and purity of the isolated compounds 1-5 have been confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and HRMS. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of compounds 1-5 have been studied in detail both experimentally and theoretically. The lowest transitions of these pyrenes, 1-5, are allowed, with moderate to high fluorescence quantum yields and radiative decay rates around 108 s-1. The differences between the electrochemical and photophysical properties of 4,9-, 4,10-, 1,6-, and 2,7-substituted isomers are compared and concluded.

Interfacial Structure and Electrostatics Related to Solute Activity in a Model Anionic-Surfactant/Polymer Self-Assembly

Polymer/surfactant composites are used in industry as an excipient for water-insoluble solutes. Such enhanced dissolution ability of composite media is related to the spontaneous formation of pre-micellar polymer surfactant aggregates (PS) at a magnitude of order lower than the surfactant critical micelle concentration in water. Combining electrochemical and spectroscopic studies, we investigate the microscopic interfacial structure (i.e., interface electrostatics and surface polarity) of PS formed in composite media. We establish that in a composite system, a mere change in the polymer concentration at a fixed surfactant concentration makes possible to regulate the counter-ion binding ability, surface potential, surface charge density, packing and surface polarity of the PS interface. Our study shows that the higher dissolution of water-insoluble nonionic solutes in composite media is driven by the depressing of surface charge density and polarity of the PS interface. A similar modulation of the PS interface acts as a barrier for the passive relocation of water-soluble charged solutes into the PS pseudo-phase. The time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy study allows us to underline the effect of surface charge modulation on the dynamical aspects of solutes at the PS interface.

Interaction of HPC with CTAB and Tween 40 at Water/Air and Water/Soya Oil Interfaces

The bulk and interfacial shear rheological behavior of aqueous solutions of biocompatible polymer HPC has been investigated in the presence of cationic CTAB and nonionic Tween 40 having the same chain length but different head groups. Steady-state bulk experiments depict two distinct regions in the rheogram (Newtonian followed by pseudoplastic). Dynamic experiments suggest that the stability of HPC hydrogels decreases with the increase in surfactant concentration. Interfacial steady shear tests of 2D monolayers of 1 wt % HPC and 1 wt % HPC with varying concentrations of Tween 40/CTAB show a non-Newtonian dilatant behavior at the solution-air interface. However, two distinct dilatant regions separated by a Newtonian region were observed for the same films at the solution-soya oil interface. The strength of films formed at the two interfaces decreases with the increase of surfactant concentration as observed from oscillatory interfacial tests. HPC interacts more strongly with CTAB than Tween 40 both in bulk as well as at the interfaces studied.

Effect of Surfactant Tail Length on the Hydroxypropyl Cellulose-Mediated Premicellar Aggregation of Sodium n-Alkyl Sulfate Surfactants

Polymer/surfactant composites have emerged as a subject of interest for their diverse applications. The improved solution properties in polymer/surfactant composites have been correlated to the formation of premicellar surfactant aggregate-polymer complexes (PS) at a surfactant concentration well below their critical micelle concentrations. Using different physicochemical and spectroscopic techniques here we have studied PS formed by hydroxypropyl cellulose, a nonionic-biocompatible polymer, and alkyl sulfate surfactants of different tail lengths. Our study shows that an increase in surfactant tail length eases PS formation and enhances PS-induced polymer cross-linking and, correspondingly, solution viscosity. PS consisting of shorter tail surfactants and those with longer tail surfactants differ microscopically as the former offers more polar interior than the later as evidenced from fluorescence measurements. Our study establishes that shorter tail surfactants intend to stay loosely packed inside PS and allow larger water penetration, which creates a relatively polar hydrophobic core compared to the PS with longer tail surfactants. The stronger packing of PS with longer tail surfactants is an outcome of favorable interaction between polymer polar groups and surfactant headgroups, which further creates strongly hydrogen-bonded water in their hydration shell.

2- and 2,7-Substituted para-N-Methylpyridinium Pyrenes: Syntheses, Molecular and Electronic Structures, Photophysical, Electrochemical, and Spectroelectrochemical Properties and Binding to Double-Stranded (ds) DNA

Two N-methylpyridinium compounds and analogous N-protonated salts of 2- and 2,7-substituted 4-pyridyl-pyrene compounds were synthesised and their crystal structures, photophysical properties both in solution and in the solid state, electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical properties were studied. Upon methylation or protonation, the emission maxima are significantly bathochromically shifted compared to the neutral compounds, although the absorption maxima remain almost unchanged. As a result, the cationic compounds show very large apparent Stokes shifts of up to 7200 cm-1 . The N-methylpyridinium compounds have a single reduction at ca. -1.5 V vs. Fc/Fc+ in MeCN. While the reduction process was reversible for the 2,7-disubstituted compound, it was irreversible for the mono-substituted one. Experimental findings are complemented by DFT and TD-DFT calculations. Furthermore, the N-methylpyridinium compounds show strong interactions with calf thymus (ct)-DNA, presumably by intercalation, which paves the way for further applications of these multi-functional compounds as potential DNA-bioactive agents.

Comparison of Drug Release and Adsorption under Supersaturating Conditions for Ordered Mesoporous Silica with Indomethacin or Indomethacin Methyl Ester

Incomplete drug release from mesoporous silica systems has been observed in several studies. This work aims to increase the understanding of this phenomenon by investigating the mechanism of drug-silica interactions and adsorption behavior from supersaturated aqueous solutions of two similar drug molecules with different hydrogen bonding capabilities. Drug-silica interactions between indomethacin or its methyl ester and SBA-15 were investigated using spectroscopic techniques (infrared, fluorescence and X-ray photoelectron) and adsorption experiments. The results demonstrate that the predominant mechanism of interaction of both drugs with silica is hydrogen bonding between drug acceptor carbonyl groups with donor groups on the silica surface. The presence of a drug hydrogen bond donor group did not enhance drug adsorption. No evidence was obtained for drug adsorption through nonspecific hydrophobic interactions. Drug adsorption onto the silica surface was investigated under supersaturating conditions through the generation of adsorption isotherms. Similar adsorption isotherms were observed for each compound when the concentration scale was normalized to the drug amorphous solubility. In other words, the equilibrium between the drug adsorbed on the silica surface and free drug in solution was related to the drug activity in solution. The high tendency of the drug to adsorb when the solution is supersaturated was, in turn, found to limit the extent of drug release during dissolution under nonsink conditions. Thus, adsorption provides an explanation for incomplete drug release.

Synthesis, Photophysical and Electronic Properties of New Red-to-NIR Emitting Donor-Acceptor Pyrene Derivatives

We synthesized new pyrene derivatives with strong bis(para-methoxyphenyl)amine donors at the 2,7-positions and n-azaacene acceptors at the K-region of pyrene. The compounds possess a strong intramolecular charge transfer, leading to unusual properties such as emission in the red to NIR region (700 nm), which has not been reported before for monomeric pyrenes. Detailed photophysical studies reveal very long intrinsic lifetimes of >100 ns for the new compounds, which is typical for 2,7-substituted pyrenes but not for K-region substituted pyrenes. The incorporation of strong donors and acceptors leads to very low reduction and oxidation potentials, and spectroelectrochemical studies show that the compounds are on the borderline between localized Robin-Day class-II and delocalized Robin-Day class-III species.

Pyrene conjugation and spectroscopic analysis of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose compounds successfully demonstrated a local dielectric difference associated with in vivo anti-prion activity

Our previous study on prion-infected rodents revealed that hydroxypropyl methylcellulose compounds (HPMCs) with different molecular weights but similar composition and degree of substitution have different levels of long-lasting anti-prion activity. In this study, we searched these HPMCs for a parameter specifically associated with in vivo anti-prion activity by analyzing in vitro chemical properties and in vivo tissue distributions. Infrared spectroscopic and thermal analyses revealed no differences among HPMCs, whereas pyrene conjugation and spectroscopic analysis revealed that the fluorescence intensity ratio of peak III/peak I correlated with anti-prion activity. This correlation was more clearly demonstrated in the anti-prion activity of the 1-year pre-infection treatment than that of the immediate post-infection treatment. In addition, the intensity ratio of peak III/peak I negatively correlated with the macrophage uptake level of HPMCs in our previous study. However, the in vivo distribution pattern was apparently not associated with anti-prion activity and was different in the representative tissues. These findings suggest that pyrene conjugation and spectroscopic analysis are powerful methods to successfully demonstrate local dielectric differences in HPMCs and provide a feasible parameter denoting the long-lasting anti-prion activity of HPMCs in vivo.

Conformation of Poly(L-lysine) and Poly(L-ornithine) in α, ω-Type Surfactant Solutions

Circular dichroism spectra of poly(L-ornithine) and poly(L-lysine) were measured in disodium α, ω-alkanedisulfate [Na2C nH2 n(SO4)2( n = 8,10, 12,16) (RDS)] solutions in the presence and absence of NaCl at various tempera tures. The 1,16-RDS induced an α-helix in poly(L-ornithine) and a β-sheet in poly(L-lysine) at 30°C, while 1,10- and 1,8-RDS induced no conformational change in either polypeptide even at a surfactant concentration where turbid ity appears. Although 1,12-RDS induced no conformational change in poly(L- ornithine), it does induce α-helix, β-sheet or stepwise transition from coil to β-sheet and then to α-helix with increasing 1,12-RDS concentration, depending on the temperature and concentration of added NaCl. The plots of α-helix con tent against temperature at various concentrations of 1,12-RDS are quali tatively consistent with the dependence of α-helix content on the size growth of surfactant cluster bound to polypeptide.

Effect of fixed aqueous layer thickness of polymeric stabilizers on zeta potential and stability of aripiprazole nanosuspensions

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the thickness of adsorbed polymer layer (also known as Fixed Aqueous Layer Thickness, FALT) of polymeric stabilizers on zeta potential and stability of nanoparticles in a suspension. Aripiprazole, a poorly water soluble drug was used as a model drug to evaluate rationale for increased FALT and to understand the effect of hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of polymeric stabilizers on FALT of aripiprazole nanosuspensions. The nanosuspensions were prepared by media milling and Pluronic F68, Pluronic F127, Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) were used as polymeric stabilizers. The particle size (immediately after preparation and after 1 week of storage at 25°C) and zeta potential of aripiprazole nanosuspensions were determined. For Pluronics, FALT was determined theoretically whereas for HPMC and HPC it was calculated as Debye Huckel parameter from the zeta potential dependence on the ionic strength. An increase in FALT resulted in reduced zeta potential. With an increase in FALT of polymers used, the stability of nanosuspensions showed improvement. Furthermore, a linear correlation was shown to exist between the FALT and length of hydrophilic chains in Pluronics.

Macroscopic, mesostructured cationic surfactant/neutral polymer films: structure and cross-linking

Mesostructured films of alkyltrimethylammonium bromides or cetylpyridinium bromide and polyethylenimines that spontaneously self-assemble at the air/water interface have been examined using a range of surface sensitive techniques. These films are unusual in that they can be micrometers thick and are relatively robust. Here we show that the films can be cross-linked and thus removed from the liquid surface where they form, as solid, mesostructured polymer-surfactant membranes. Cross-linking causes little change in the structure of the films but freezes in the metastable mesostructures, enhancing the potential of these films for future applications. Cross-linked films, dried after removal from the solution surface, retain the ordered nanoscale structure within the film. We also report grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GID), which shows that most films display scattering consistent with 2D-hexagonal phase crystallites of rodlike surfactant micelles encased in polymer. Polymer branching makes little difference to the film structures; however, polymer molecular weight has a significant effect. Films with lower polymer MW are generally thinner and more ordered, while higher polymer MW films were thicker and less ordered. Increased pH causes formation of thicker films and improves the ordering in low MW films, while high MW films lose order. To rationalize these results, we propose a model for the film formation process that relates the kinetic and thermodynamic limits of phase separation and mesophase ordering to the structures observed.

Salt tolerance of an aqueous solution of a novel amphiphilic polysaccharide derivative

An aqueous solution of an amphiphilic polysaccharide derivative, hydrophobically (stearyl alkyl group) and hydrophilically (sulfonic-acid salt group) modified hydroxyethylcellulose (HHM-HEC), showed increased viscosity, elasticity, and thixotropic properties in response to the addition of monovalent and divalent salts. Furthermore, the HHM-HEC solution had a transparent appearance at a NaCl concentration of 7 wt %. Since it showed superior salt tolerance to HEC, we focused attention on the two substituents of HHM-HEC and prepared HEC derivatives, namely, hydrophobically modified hydroxyethylcellulose (R-HEC), hydrophilically modified hydroxyethylcellulose (S-HEC), and nonmodified hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC). In addition, we used oscillatory, thixotropic, and fluorometric methods to compare the rheological properties of HHM-HEC with those of other derivatives in the presence of NaCl and ZnCl2, and attempted to elucidate the respective roles of the two substituents of HHM-HEC solution in the salt-tolerance mechanism. As the NaCl concentration in the HHM-HEC solution increased, the values of the elastic modulus G' and the viscous modulus G'' increased, and, moreover, the relative intensities of the first (I1 = 372 nm) and the third (I3 = 383 nm) vibronic bands of the pyrene monomer emission spectrum (the I1/I3 ratio) decreased. These results suggested that the added salt strengthened the three-dimensional network structure of the HHM-HEC polymer by the formation of cross-linkages through the association of hydrophobic substituents. This hydrophobic substituent was therefore essential in allowing HHM-HEC to exhibit a high viscosity in a salt solution. Although the R-HEC solution showed a higher viscosity than did the HHM-HEC solution in the absence of added salts, it became cloudy and lost its viscosity at high NaCl concentrations, apparently because of the shrinkage of its network structure. This signified that the hydrophilic substituent was essential for the sufficient solubility of HHM-HEC to show its rheological properties in a salt-rich solution. We propose to explain how the viscosity of HHM-HEC increases in the presence of salts as follows: Added salts weaken the electrostatic repulsion between the hydrophilic substituents, thereby enhancing the interactions of hydrophobic substituents and consequently increasing the rigidity of the HHM-HEC solution.

Solvation dynamics of DCM in a polypeptide-surfactant aggregate: gelatin-sodium dodecyl sulfate

Solvation dynamics of 4-(dicyanomethylidene)-2-[p-(dimethylamino)styryl]-6-methyl-4H-pyran (DCM) is studied in a polypeptide-surfactant aggregate consisting of gelatin and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KP) buffer. The average solvation time (tauS) in gelatin-SDS aggregate at 45 degrees C is found to be 1780 ps, which is about 13 times slower than that in 15 mM SDS in KP buffer at the same temperature. The fluorescence anisotropy decay in gelatin-SDS aggregate is also different from that in SDS micelles in KP buffer. DCM displays negligible emission in the presence of gelatin in aqueous solution. Thus the solvation dynamics in the presence of gelatin and SDS is exclusively due to the probe (DCM) molecules at the gelatin-micelle interface. The slow solvation dynamics is ascribed to the restrictions imposed on the water molecules trapped between the polypeptide chain and micellar aggregates. The critical association concentration (cac) of SDS for gelatin is determined to be 0.5 +/- 0.1 mM.

Two types of hydrophobic aggregates in aqueous solutions of chitosan and its hydrophobic derivative

The aggregation phenomena in aqueous solutions of hydrophobically modified (HM) chitosan, containing 4 mol % of n-dodecyl side chains, were studied by viscometry and fluorescence spectroscopy with pyrene as a probe. The results are compared with those for unmodified chitosan. Surprisingly, fluorescence data reveal the appearance of intermolecular hydrophobic aggregates both in chitosan and in HM chitosan. Nevertheless, these polymers exhibit quite different rheological properties: upon the formation of aggregates the viscosity of HM chitosan sharply increases, while that of unmodified chitosan raises only slightly. The aggregation models for both chitosan and its hydrophobic derivative were proposed. It was shown that in solutions of HM chitosan two types of hydrophobic domains exist: hydrophobic domains typical for different associating polymers with hydrophobic side chains and hydrophobic domains inherent to chitosan itself.

Fate of excited probes in micellar systems

This article presents studies on the photophysical and photochemical behavior of probes within micellar systems: organized emulsifier/polymer aggregates; the intra- and interpolymer association of amphiphilic polymers; monomer-swollen micelles (microdroplets); and the interfacial layer. Pyrene (Py) as a probe is particularly attractive because of its ability to measure the polarity of its microenvironment. Dipyme yields information on the microviscosity of micellar systems. Probes such as laurdan and prodan can be used to explore the surface characteristics of micelles or microdroplets. The dansyl group has a special photophysical property that gives information about the local polarity and mobility (viscosity) of the microenvironment. The organized association of amphiphilic polymer and emulsifier introduces a heterogeneity in the local concentration of the reactants. This heterogeneity also results from the attractive interaction between hydrophilic monomer and emulsifier in the case when the monomer carries a positive charge and the counterpart a negative one, and vice versa. Some emulsifiers can bind to the amphiphilic copolymers by simple partitioning between the aqueous phase and the polymer--non-cooperative association. The interaction between micelles (microdroplets) and charged polymers leads to the formation of mixed micelles. Binding emulsifiers to these polymers was detected at emulsifier concentrations much below the critical micellar concentration (CMC). Emulsifiers often interact cooperatively with polymers at the critical aggregation concentration (CAC) below the CMC, forming micelle-like aggregates within the polymer. The CAC can be taken as a measure of interaction between the emulsifier and polymer. A decrease in the monomer fluorescence intensity of probe-labeled polymer results from increased excimer formation, or higher aggregates within the unimolecular polymeric micelles. An increase in the monomer fluorescence intensity of probe-labeled polymer within the micellar system can be ascribed to shielding of the probe chromophores by emulsifier micelles. The quenching of probe emission by (un)charged hydrophilic monomer depends on partitioning of the monomer between the aqueous phase and the micelles. Penetration of reactants into the interfacial layer determines the quenching of the hydrophobic probe by hydrophilic quencher, or vice versa. Quenching depends on the thickness, density and charge of the interfacial layer. Compartmentalization prevents the carbonyl compound and unsaturated monomer from coming into sufficiently close contact to allow singlet or triplet-monomer interaction. All negatively charged carbonyl probe molecules are quenched with significantly lower rates than the parent neutral hydrophobic benzophenone molecules, which were located further inside the aggregates. This results from the different conformation and allocation of reactants within the micellar system. In the reverse micelles, quenching depends on the amount of water in the interfacial layer and the total area of the water/oil interface.

Physicochemical Investigations on the Interaction of Surfactants and Salts with Polyvinylpyrrolidone in Aqueous Medium

Microcalorimetric investigations have been carried out onthe interaction of the surfactants sodium cholate, sodium deoxycholate, tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide, cetyl(hexadecyl)trimethylammonium bromide, and p-tert-octylphenoxy polyoxy-ethylene ether (Triton X-100) and the salts potassium iodide, sodium benzoate, sodium bromide, and sodium salicylate with the neutral polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The enthalpy of dilution of the surfactants has been measured in the absence and presence of the polymer and the results are compared to determine the effect of PVP on the micellization of the surfactants and the energetics of the process. As well, the micellization activity of the surfactants in the presence of the polymer has been studied by conductometric and fluorimetric methods. The enthalpy of dilution of the salts has been measured to provide an understanding of the nature and magnitude of their interaction with PVP. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.