Abstract
Titration of an aqueous solution of sodium poly‐L‐glutamate with a strong acid usually produces turbidity and precipitation before the equivalence point is reached. In 1__M__ sodium p‐toluenesulfonate and 1__M__ sodium methylcyclohexanesulfonate aggregation was delayed for days to months. In very concentrated tetra‐n‐butylammonium chloride and bromide the polymeric acid dissolved and could be titrated with NaOH. However, potentiometric titration curves in these solutions did not yield information (by way of plots of apparent p__K__ versus the degree of neutralization) about the helix‐to‐coil transition of the polymer. It was argued in addition that the apparent p__K__ of a weak polyelectrolyte should not be calculated from titrations in concentrated salt solutions since it is a mixed or composite quantity. It contains not only the effect of the salt on the dissociation of the weak electrolyte but its effect on the activity coefficient of hydrogen ions as well.
Circular dichroic spectra were therefore measured a t various degrees of neutralization of poly(L‐glutamic acid) in a number of aqueous salt solutions and mixtures of organic solvents with water. It was found that the undissociated polymer in the concentrated methylcyclohexanesulfonate and quaternary ammonium halide solutions had the spectrum of a right‐handed α helix. The n → π* band at 222 mμ was used as a measure of the fraction of polymer in the helical conformation. The value of − Δε for the undissociated polyacid in these organic electrolyte solutions was 11.4. By means of this value and a number of assumptions, the fraction of helix (f~h~) as a function of α, the degree of polyacid neutralization, was calculated for the different solvent mixtures. An empirical equation was used to describe the variation of f~h~ with α, f~h~ = 1/(1 + e^−a+__b__α^), in which b represents the degree of cooperativeness of the transition, and a is a measure of the effect of the medium on the onset of the transition. The values of b did not differ very much from one another, suggesting that the cooperativeness of the transition was not sensitive to changes in the medium. On the other hand, the value of a (or its equivalent, the value of α at the halfway point in the transition) was more dependent on the solvent. Comparisons of these results with those of some other workers were made by means of the empirical equation.