Study of the alkaline fading of phenolphthalein in microemulsions

The reactions of the alkaline fading of phenolphthalein (PN) have been studied in water/sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT)/isooctane microemulsions by monitoring the absorbance changes of PN in the system with the time and the results compared with those found for the same reactions in aqueous solutions. It was found that the values of the equilibrium constants and the forward reaction rate constants in the microemulsions were significantly larger than that in aqueous solutions and decreased with increasing the molar ratio of water to AOT (ω), except for that with low ω. The temperature dependence of the reaction rate constant was analyzed to obtain the values of free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of activation, which suggests the existence of an isokinetic relationship and a common mechanism for the reactions occurring in the microemulsions with different ω. It was also observed that the competition between the reactions of the alkaline fading of PN and the hydrolyzation of AOT in water/AOT/isooctane microemulsions when the reaction time was sufficiently long.