Excess enthalpies of solution of primary and secondary alcohols in dodecyldimethylamine oxide micellar solutions

Abstract

The excess enthalpies of solution with respect to water of some primary and secondary alcohols in dodecyldimethylamine oxide (DDAO) micellar solutions were measured by mixing aqueous solutions of alcohols with surfactant solutions. Standard free energies, enthalpies and entropies were obtained from the distribution of alcohols between aqueous and micellar phases. It is shown that thermodynamics of transfer of secondary alcohols from aqueous to the DDAO micellar phase differ slightly from those of their corresponding primary alcohols, that the additivity rule holds for free energies of transfer and that enthalpy and entropy display convex curves. The present data are compared with those from the aqueous to the dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) micellar phases and to the literature data for transfer from water to octane. The role of the hydrophilic interactions between OH group and the micellar head groups and of the hydrophobic interactions between the methylene group and its apolar environment is evidenced.