Study of the formation of some substituted triphenylmethane reagent-cationic surfactant associates

Abstract

The ionic, sub-micellar and micellar phenomena in binary systems of substituted triphenylmethane reagents (TPM)(Chrome Azurol S, Eriochrome Azurol B, Eriochrome Cyanine R and Pyrocatechol Violet) with cationic surfactants (CS)(cetyltrimethylammonium, cetylpyridinium, cetyldimethylbenzylammonium and Zephiramine) were examined. The influence of the substituted triphenylmethane reagent molecular structures, the hydrophobic properties of the cationic surfactants on the absorption spectra and the dissociation constants of TPM, the turbidity ranges in TPM-CS systems and the critical micelle concentrations (CMC) have been studied. Binary TPM-CS sub-micellar aggregates have been proposed as the active species in ternary complex formation with metal ions.