Dye-Affinity Partitioning of Acidic, Basic, and Neutral Proteins in Ionic Liquid-Based Aqueous Biphasic Systems

Abstract

The partitioning behavior of model acidic (bovine serum albumin, BSA), basic (hen egg white lysozyme, LYS), and neutral (horse heart myoglobin, MYO) proteins in ionic liquid-based aqueous biphasic systems containing Reactive Red-120 dye has been reported. This study found that partition coefficients of the proteins depended on their chemical structures, pH of the aqueous phase, temperature, and composition of the aqueous biphasic system. It was found that partition coefficients of proteins in aqueous biphasic system containing RR-120 were in the order of LYS > MYO > BSA. Recovery of the hydrophilic ionic liquid, [C₄mim]Br, was achieved by using hydrophobic ionic liquid, [C₄mim]PF_6.

Keywords:

• bovine serum albumin
• dye-affinity partitioning
• ionic liquid
• lysozyme
• myoglobin

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge the support of this work by Shiraz University Research Council.