Hydrophobicity–flexibility synergy in tween micelles: kinetic modulation towards sustainable oxidation of l-leucine
5 affiliations
- 1Laboratory of Colloid and Interface Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, The University of Burdwan Burdwan-713104 West Bengal India
- 2Department of Chemistry, Mrinalini Dutta Mahavidyapith Kolkata-700051 West Bengal India
- 3Department of Chemistry, Visva-Bharati Santiniketan-731235 West Bengal India
- 4Department of Chemistry, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani-Hyderabad Campus Hyderabad Telangana 500078 India
- 5Department of Chemistry, Bhagalpur National College (Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University) Bhagalpur Bihar-812007 India
Abstract
The proposed study aims to explore the metal catalyst-free, micelle-mediated oxidation of l-leucine using alkaline potassium hexacyanoferrate(iii) or [Fe(CN)6]3−, involving two nonionic surfactants-Tween-20 (TW-20) and Tween-80 (TW-80). The present study primarily explores the characterization and the catalytic efficiency of micellar media and the substantial impact of surfactant microstructure on the reaction kinetics. Surfactant microstructure plays a decisive role in regulating catalytic performance of tween surfactants. Remarkably, TW-80 catalyzes the oxidation reaction with impressive efficiency, reducing the reaction time from ∼65.7 h to ∼6.7 h, while the TW-20 reducing it to ∼28.8 h at equimolar concentration (0.1 mM). Upon addition of l-leucine to 0.1 mM TW-80, the morphological switching in FESEM analysis and the significant shift in ‘m’ value (0.42 to 0.89) in SAXS analysis suggests the l-leucine induces noticeable structural organizations of the TW-80 aggregates compared to TW-20. Additionally, zeta potential and DLS measurements validated the large surface charge (−14.49 mV) and size of ∼50 nm for the 0.1 mM TW-80 micellar system, making it more stable and more dynamic. Surprisingly, the shorter average lifetime of 0.1 mM TW-80 alone (5.1 ns) and 109.63 ns in the presence of l-leucine also suggests that the probe molecule experiences a more flexible microenvironment in 0.1 mM TW-80 system. Furthermore, the proposed reaction mechanism is corroborated by thermodynamic analysis, Marcus theory, FMO analysis and spin density distribution analysis. Notably, this work presents an innovative shift toward sustainable oxidation processes by substituting conventional metal catalysts with benign surfactant-based platform for the l-leucine oxidation.
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BibTeX
@article{layek2026hydrophobicityflexibility,
title = {{Hydrophobicity–flexibility synergy in tween micelles: kinetic modulation towards sustainable oxidation of l-leucine}},
author = {Mousumi Layek and Priya Karmakar and Samrat Dev and Bipasha Saha and Mahasweta Nandi and Arindam Nandy and Manab Chakravarty and Sandip Kundu and Pintu Sar and Bidyut Saha},
journal = {RSC advances},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra07838a},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13729016},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Hydrophobicity–flexibility synergy in tween micelles: kinetic modulation towards sustainable oxidation of l-leucine
AU - Mousumi Layek
AU - Priya Karmakar
AU - Samrat Dev
AU - Bipasha Saha
AU - Mahasweta Nandi
AU - Arindam Nandy
AU - Manab Chakravarty
AU - Sandip Kundu
AU - Pintu Sar
AU - Bidyut Saha
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/03
JO - RSC advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra07838a
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13729016
AB - The proposed study aims to explore the metal catalyst-free, micelle-mediated oxidation of l-leucine using alkaline potassium hexacyanoferrate(iii) or [Fe(CN)6]3−, involving two nonionic surfactants-Tween-20 (TW-20) and Tween-80 (TW-80). The present study primarily explores the characterization and the catalytic efficiency of micellar media and the substantial impact of surfactant microstructure on the reaction kinetics. Surfactant microstructure plays a decisive role in regulating catalytic performance of tween surfactants. Remarkably, TW-80 catalyzes the oxidation reaction with impressive efficiency, reducing the reaction time from ∼65.7 h to ∼6.7 h, while the TW-20 reducing it to ∼28.8 h at equimolar concentration (0.1 mM). Upon addition of l-leucine to 0.1 mM TW-80, the morphological switching in FESEM analysis and the significant shift in ‘m’ value (0.42 to 0.89) in SAXS analysis suggests the l-leucine induces noticeable structural organizations of the TW-80 aggregates compared to TW-20. Additionally, zeta potential and DLS measurements validated the large surface charge (−14.49 mV) and size of ∼50 nm for the 0.1 mM TW-80 micellar system, making it more stable and more dynamic. Surprisingly, the shorter average lifetime of 0.1 mM TW-80 alone (5.1 ns) and 109.63 ns in the presence of l-leucine also suggests that the probe molecule experiences a more flexible microenvironment in 0.1 mM TW-80 system. Furthermore, the proposed reaction mechanism is corroborated by thermodynamic analysis, Marcus theory, FMO analysis and spin density distribution analysis. Notably, this work presents an innovative shift toward sustainable oxidation processes by substituting conventional metal catalysts with benign surfactant-based platform for the l-leucine oxidation.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -