hydrotropy Physical Chem.
(haɪˈdrɒtrəpɪ)
[ad. G. hydrotropie (C. Neuberg 1916, in Biochem. Zeitschr. LXXVI. 107), f. hydro- + Gk. τροπή turn, turning.]
The phenomenon whereby a substance that is only slightly soluble in water will readily dissolve in certain aqueous solutions.
| 1928 Chem. Abstr. XXII. 770 (heading) The applicability of Traube's rule to the phenomenon of hydrotropy. 1950 J. W. McBain Colloid Sci. xvii. 268 Hydrotropy occurs in concentrated solutions of salts or of colloidal electrolytes. 1954 P. A. Winsor Solvent Properties Amphiphilic Compounds i. 5 With the amphiphilic salts of short chain length (e.g. C3{b1}C8) the ‘solubilization’ effect becomes marked only with their rather concentrated aqueous solutions and has, in this case, been termed ‘hydrotropy’. |