Functional micellar catalysis. Part 3. —Quantitative analysis of the catalytic effects due to functional micelles and comicelles

Abstract

The kinetic treatment of reactions catalysed by functional micelles and comicelles made up of chemically inert and functional surfactants, based on the pseudophase separation approach, allows the evaluation of the parameters defining the catalytic phenomena. The rate enhancements of activated ester hydrolysis due to cationic micelles of previously described functional surfactants, when compared to those due to analogous non-micellar model compounds, can be mainly accounted for by concentration and electrostatic effects. Desolvation and other medium effects on anionic micellar functions are not a relevant source of rate enhancement. The merits of comicellar solutions for the analysis under standard conditions of the catalytic effectiveness of a variety of functional surfactants are also presented.