CHEMICAL REACTIONS IN MICELLAR SOLUTIONS

Surfactants are among the most versatile compounds and are widely utilized in pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic products. In aqueous media and at concentrations higher than a certain concentration, the surfactant molecules aggregate into clusters, known as micelles. The concentration at which the micelles first become detectable is the critical micelle concentration, CMC. Kinetics of some reactions in micellar media are found to be different from those of the reactions in systems without micelles. Effects of micelles on the reactions can be attributed to electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. The interactions cause changes in reaction kinetics through the following aspects: the localized concentration of reactants and the structure, polarity, and hydrophobicity of microenvironment in micelles. The influence of micellar systems can be either catalytic or inhibit effects. These effects depend on surfactant, substrate, and additive properties in the system.