Evaluation of proton activity in microemulsions by a kinetic probe.

The decomposition reaction of the purple dye murexide in acidic media is used as a probe indicator for protons in nonionic microemulsions. The reaction kinetics primarily rely on the proton concentration and permit assessment of the proton activity in the nonionic microemulsions of water/cyclohexane/Igepal and water/heptane/Igepal. The experiments performed in the two microemulsions covered a wide range of water-to-oil mass fraction for the two systems. The kinetic runs were monitored under pseudo-first order conditions by the stopped-flow technique. The equilibrium constants for the formation of purpuric acid and the kinetic constants for the ensuing decomposition reaction fulfill a trend consistent with the micro compartmentalized nature of the multicomponent medium, and support the use of murexide as an indicator of the proton activity in microemulsions.