An extended description of the effect of detergent monomers on migration in micellar electrokinetic chromatography

Three equilibria determine the interaction of a neutral analyte with the detergent in micellar electrokinetic chromatography and therefore its migration: (i) that of the free analyte in the aqueous phase with the micelle, (ii) its association with free detergent monomers in the aqueous phase, and (iii) the partition of the associate of analyte and monomer between the aqueous solution and the micelle. For the first equilibrium, non-stoichiometric partitioning between two phases is preferred in the present work over the assumption of complex formation between one molecule of the analyte with one micelle. The second equilibrium is described by the formation of a 1:1 associate of the analyte and monomer. In this paper, thirdly an additional equilibrium is introduced, namely, the distribution of the analyte-monomer associate between the aqueous and the micelle phase; it is expressed by the according partition coefficient. The three equilibrium constants are interrelated. Mobility data for a lipophilic fluorescent compound and a series of n-alkylphenones (differing in chain length) were measured as a function of the SDS concentration below and above the critical micellar concentration. Curve fitting enabled the derivation of the equilibrium constants. It was found that the association constants of the analytes with the detergent monomers are between 2 and 75 M(-1). Interestingly, the partition coefficient of the analyte-monomer associate between the aqueous and micellar phase is by a factor of 5-200 larger than that of the free analyte.