The Kinetic Theory and the Mechanisms of Micellar Effects on Chemical Reactions

Abstract

A few years ago we suggested, as an explanation of micellar effects on chemical reactions, a compre- hensive kinetic theory which takes into consideration a partition of the reagents between the bulk and micellar "phases", the simultaneous course of the reaction in the two phases and the shift of the apparent ionization constant of one of the reagents under the action of the surface micelle charge. In terms of this theory, from "surfactant concentra- tion versus overall rate" profiles one can obtain partition coefficients of reagents between the bulk and micellar phases and a true rate constant of the reaction going in a micellar medium. That the kinetic equations are true is confirmed by the fact that the partition coefficients obtained in this way are in conformity with the values obtained by other methods (gel filtration, solubilization, spectro- photometric titration, etc.).