Abstract
The effect of anionic polyelectrolytes, poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS) and poly(vinylsulfonate) (PVS), on the charge transfer complexing between indole derivatives and methyl viologen($MV^{++}$) cation was investigated. The results were compared with effect of NaCl and an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS). Both PSS and PVS enhanced the complex formation of neutral species (indole and indole acetate at low pH), zwitter ionic tryptophan, and positively charged tryptamine and tryptophan at low pH with $MV^{++}$. This result was attributed to the contribution of hydrophobic interaction, in addition to electrostatic interaction. The enhancing effect of PSS was much higher than that of PVS reflecting the higher hydrophobicity of PSS. The interaction between indole acetate anion and $MV^{++}$ was greatly reduced by addition of PVS and PSS. The higher charge density of PVS was appeared as greater reducing effect indicating the importance of electrostatic force in this case. In all cases, the effect of polyelectrolytes showed maxima, and further addition of PVS and PSS decreased the effect. This behavior was explained in terms of distribution of indole derivatives and $MV^{++}$ in domain of polyanions. The complex formation constants and molar absorptivities of complexes were determined, and the values were compared with those in water and SDS solutions.
