Studies on an ester-modified cationic amphiphile in aqueous systems: behavior of binary solutions and ternary mixtures with conventional surfactants.

The aqueous behavior of an ester-modified cationic amphiphile with the molecular structure CH3CH2O(C=O)(CH2)6(C=O)O(CH2)8N+(CH3)3Br-, in the following referred to as A, has been investigated. Systems with A as the only solute, as well as different aqueous mixtures with conventional cationic surfactants, primarily dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), were included in the study. Isotropic solution samples were characterized using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, NMR diffusometry, and conductivity measurements, whereas liquid crystalline samples were investigated by optical polarization microscopy and small-angle X-ray diffraction. The results are compared to the behavior of the binary system of DTAB and water. A does not exhibit a typical surfactant behavior. When it is present as the only solute in a binary aqueous system, it forms neither conventional micelles nor liquid crystalline phases. However, there is clear evidence that it assembles with lower cooperativity into loose clusters at concentrations above 25-30 mM. When A is mixed with DTAB in solution, the two amphiphiles form mixed assemblies, the structure of which varies with the total amphiphile concentration. In concentrated mixtures with alkyltrimethylammonium surfactants, A can participate in hexagonal liquid crystalline phases even when it constitutes a significant fraction of the total amphiphile content.