Systematic study of Langmuir films of different amino acid derivatives on several subphases

Abstract

In a Langmuir trough, we studied the formation and the behaviour upon compression of Langmuir films of 1) α-hexadecyl derivative of tert-butoxycarbonylated glycine, respectively α-octadecyl derivative of tert-butoxycarbonylated glycine methyl ester on l- and d-amino acid subphases with/without Cu2+ ions, and 2) N-hexadecanoyl derivatives of four l-amino acids (Ala, Ser, Glu, and Phe) on pure water subphase. The films were characterized by their Ac and A0 molecular areas, Πc collapse pressure, C−1 compression modulus, and the ΠCmax−1${\Pi _{C_{\max }^1}}$ surface pressure at maximum compression modulus. In this contribution, the found peculiarities of the different amphiphile–subphase pairs and the drawn conclusions about the structure of the films and the interactions of the amphiphiles with the subphases are presented.