Abstract
POLYELECTROLYTES are known to alter drastically the rate of many ionic reactions in solution1,2. In general, it may be said that the polyelectrolyte effect has an important role in the observed changes of the rates of reaction. The high electrostatic field in the neighbourhood of the macroion generates an inhomogeneous distribution of the ionic reactants—counterions being concentrated in a rather small volume surrounding the polymeric chains. It has been clearly shown3,4 that even when the ionic substrate is decomposed by specifically reactive groups incorporated into the polyelectrolyte molecule, the electrostatic interaction is the causative factor of the observed accelerated rate of decomposition. This polyelectrolyte effect may be a relevant factor on the activity of catalytic biopolyelectrolytes, for example enzymes.
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BLESA, M., TURYN, D., FERNANDEZ-PRINI, R. et al. Influence of conformation on effect of macroions on kinetics of ionic reactions. Nature 256, 681–682 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/256681a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/256681a0
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