pH at the micellar interface: Synthesis of pH probes derived from salicylic acid, acid–base dissociation in sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles, and Poisson–Boltzmann simulation

The study of the H + concentration at the micellar interface is a convenient system for modeling the distribution of H + at interfaces. We have synthesized salicylic acid derivatives to analyze the proton dissociation of both the carboxylic and phenol groups of the probes, determining spectrophotometrically the apparent p K a 's (p K ap ) in sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS, micelles with and without added salt. The synthesized probes were 2-hydroxy-5-(2-trimethylammoniumacetyl)benzoate; 2-hydroxy-5-(2-dimethylhexadecylammoniumacetyl)benzoate; 2-hydroxy-5-(2-dimethylhexadecylammoniumhexanoyl)benzoate; 2-hydroxy-5-(2-dimethylhexadecylammoniumundecanoyl)benzoate; 2-hydroxy-5-acetylbenzoic acid; and 2-hydroxy-5-dodecanoylbenzoic acid. Upon incorporation into SDS micelles the p K ap 's of both carboxylic and phenol groups increased by ca. 3 pH units and NaCl addition caused a decrease in the probe-incorporated p K ap . The experimental results were fitted with a cell model Poisson–Boltzmann (P–B) equation taking in consideration the effect of salt on the aggregation number of SDS and using the distance of the dissociating group as a parameter. The conformations of the probes were analyzed theoretically using two dielectric constants, e.g., 2 and 78. Both the P–B analysis and conformation calculations can be interpreted by assuming that the acid groups dissociate very close to, or at, the interface. Our results are consistent with the assumption that the intrinsic p K a 's of both carboxylic and phenol groups of the salicylic acid probes used here can be taken as those in water. Using this assumption the micellar and salt effects on the p K ap 's of the (trialkylammonium)benzoate probes were described accurately using a cell model P–B analysis.