Characterization of chemical selectivity in micellar electrokinetic chromatography. 4. Effect of surfactant headgroup.

The influence of surfactant headgroups on migration behavior in micellar electrokinetic chromatography is examined. Using linear solvation energy relationships (LSER) and functional group selectivity studies, the effect of six anionic headgroups on chemical selectivity is characterized. The sodium dodecyl surfactants of the sulfate [SO4-], sulfonate [SO3-], carboxylate [CO2-], carbonyl valine [OC(O)NHCH(CH(CH3)2)CO2-], and sulfoacetate [OC(O)CH2SO3-] anions are investigated. Solute size and the hydrogen-bond-donating ability of the micellar phase play the most significant roles in solute retention in all of the surfactants studied. While solute-micelle hydrogen bonding plays a dominant role in the observed selectivity, the dipolarity and polarizability of the micellar phase also have a small influence. The results also suggest that the hydrogen-bond-accepting ability for surfactants is inversely proportional to the proton acidity (pKa) of its headgroup. The observed hydrogen-bond-donating ability and dipolarity of surfactant systems are believed to be a result of the water that resides near the micelle surface.