Two-dimensional NOE spectroscopy (NOESY) experiments have been used to examine the dissolution of two typical solubilizates (1-butanol and benzene) in anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles and of benzene in cationic dodecyltrimethyammonium (DTAB) micelles. In all cases, significant, positive NOESY cross peaks were obtained that appeared to correlate well with the expected locus of solubilization of these solubilizates in these surfactant systems. The NOESY technique, which is a noninvasive experiment, is found to provide significant insight in terms of the solubilization of these molecules in the interior of ionic micelles.Key words: solubilization, surfactants, NMR spectroscopy, 2-D NOESY experiments.
