Acid–Base Equilibrium in a Lipid/Water Gel

Abstract

A new and original experiment in which partition of bromophenol blue dye between water and lipid/water gel causes a shift in the acid–base equilibrium of the dye is described. The dye-absorbing material is a monoglyceride food additive of plant origin that mixes freely with water to form a stable cubic phase gel; the nascent gel absorbs the dye from aqueous solution and converts it to the acidic form. There are three concurrent processes taking place in the experiment: (a) formation of the lipid/water gel, (b) absorption of the dye by the gel, and (c) protonation of the dye in the lipid/water gel environment. As the aqueous solution of the dye is a deep purple-blue color at neutral pH and yellow at acidic pH the result of these processes is visually striking: the strongly green-yellow particles of lipid/water gel are suspended in purple-blue aqueous solution. The local acidity of the lipid/water gel is estimated by UV–vis spectrophotometry. This experiment is an example of host-guest (lipid/water gel–dye)...