An enhancement in the excited state proton transfer (ESPT) processes of coumarin-102 (C-102) dye was observed upon addition of salicylic acid and hydrochloric acid in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micellar solution. The phenomenon was observed only in the micellar medium of anionic surfactant SDS and not in case of cationic (CTAB) or neutral (Trition X -100) surfactants. ESPT of C-102 was also observed in aqueous solutions but on addition of very high concentrations of hydrochloric acid. However, on comparing the ratio of the protonated species from the emission spectra in the presence and absence of SDS micelle, a conclusive estimation of the local proton concentration at the Stern layer of SDS micelles could be evaluated.

The denaturation of human serum albumin (HSA) upon interaction with the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) was examined by measuring the diffusion time of fluorophore (RITC) tagged HSA under near single-molecule conditions using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. The diffusion time showsfour distinct regions as a function of SDS concentration, which corresponds to (I) opening of the tertiary structure, (II) non-specific SDS aggregation, (III) opening of the secondary structure, and (IV) aggregation of SDS around the secondary structure. Diffusion time increases from 383 ls for the free protein to 1002 ls forthe SDS bound protein, which leads to an effective increase in the hydrodynamic radius by a factor of about 2.6