hydrotrope
Sign in to saveA hydrotrope is a compound that solubilizes hydrophobic compounds in aqueous solutions by means other than micellar solubilization. Typically, hydrotropes consist of a hydrophilic part and a hydrophobic part (similar to surfactants), but the hydrophobic part is generally too small to cause spontaneous self-aggregation. Hydrotropes do not have a critical concentration above which self-aggregation spontaneously starts to occur (as found for micelle- and vesicle-forming surfactants, which have a critical micelle concentration (CMC) and a critical vesicle concentration (CVC)). Instead, some hydrot
~6 min read
Article
4 sectionsContents
- Applications
- Environmental considerations
- Human health
- References
A hydrotrope is a compound that solubilizes hydrophobic compounds in aqueous solutions by means other than micellar solubilization. Typically, hydrotropes consist of a hydrophilic part and a hydrophobic part (similar to surfactants), but the hydrophobic part is generally too small to cause spontaneous self-aggregation. Hydrotropes do not have a critical concentration above which self-aggregation spontaneously starts to occur (as found for micelle- and vesicle-forming surfactants, which have a critical micelle concentration (CMC) and a critical vesicle concentration (CVC)). Instead, some hydrotropes aggregate in a step-wise self-aggregation process, gradually increasing aggregation size. However, many hydrotropes do not seem to self-aggregate at all, unless a solubilizate has been added. Examples of hydrotropes include urea, tosylate, cumenesulfonate and xylenesulfonate.
The term hydrotropy was originally put forward by Carl Neuberg to describe the increase in the solubility of a solute by the addition of fairly high concentrations of alkali metal salts of various organic acids. However, the term has been used in the literature to designate non-micelle-forming substances, either liquids or solids, capable of solubilizing insoluble compounds.