Celebration of Scholars
A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study of the Physical Properties of Undecanyl-Phenylalanine Micelles
Name:
Chelsea Reuter
Major: Chemistry
Hometown: Lodi, WI
Faculty Sponsor: Kevin Morris
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research
Abstract
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) was used to study the physical properties of micelles formed by the surfactant undecanyl-phenylalanine (UND-Phe). Micelles consist of roughly 50-100 surfactant molecules which have aggregated together. Surfactants contain polar head groups and non-polar tails. In a micelle, the tails points toward the center of the spherical aggregrate and the head groups point toward the surface. NMR spectra were collected as a function of pH to determine how pH affected the size of the micelles and their ability to bind cationic arginine and lysine amino acids. It was found that as pH increased, less of the amino acid counterions bound to the micelle. Further, viscosity measurements were made with solutions of UND-Phe and NaHCO3 as a function of pHs. These experiments showed that pH had a minimal effect on solution viscosity. Finally, the peaks in the UND-Phe spectrum were assigned and then two-dimensional NMR was used to study the orientation of the surfactant’s aromatic ring relative of its hydrocarbon chain.Submit date: March 11, 2015, 6:02 p.m.