Interaction of surfactants with homologous series of peptides studied by reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography

The relative strength of interaction between anionic (SDS) and nonionic surfactant (octaethoxylated oleyl alcohol, GEN) and homologous series of peptides was determined by reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography (RP-TLC) carried out on alumina layers impregnated with paraffin oil. The relative strength of interaction was calculated and was correlated with the physicochemical parameters of peptides. It was established that each peptide interacted with both surfactants and with their mixture (1:1, m/m). The relative strength of interaction depended on the number of amino acid units in the peptide, side chain bulk and electronic properties and hydrophobicity of the amino acids. The impact of individual parameters highly depended on the character of surfactant. The data prove that the retention order of peptides can be modified by adding different surfactants and surfactant mixtures to the mobile phase resulting in improved separation.