Thermodynamics Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Thermodynamics, including details on enthalpy, entropy, energy transitions.

Relative hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of fructose, glucose, sucrose, and trehalose as probed by 1-propanol: a differential approach in solution thermodynamics.

Koga Y, Nishikawa K, Westh P

Department of Chemistry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada V6T 1Z3. koga@chem.ubc.ca

Earlier, we developed the 1-propanol probing methodology that could separately evaluate the relative hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity scale of a given sample. We applied it here to fructose, glucose, sucrose, and trehalose and evaluated the same for these saccharides. We then construct a two-dimensional map with the hydrophobicity and the hydrophilicity axes and plot the above saccharides together with other nonelectrolytes subjected earlier to the same analysis. We point out that these saccharides together with other so-called "osmolytes" that accumulate in vivo under H2O stress occupy a small specific region near H2O in this map.

Published 13 December 2007 in J Phys Chem B, 111(50): 13943-8.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Thermodynamics Research Today. All Rights Reserved.