USE OF SPECTRAL MAPPING AND STEPWISE REGRESSION-ANALYSIS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHEMICAL-STRUCTURE AND BIOLOGICAL-ACTIVITY OF SURFACTANTS

The biological activity of 27 nonionic surfactants with different hydr ophobic moiety and with different length of ethylene oxide chain was d etermined on 10 microbiological objects. Spectral mapping technique an d stepwise regression analysis were used for the separation of the str ength and selectivity of the biological effect of surfactants, and for the elucidation of the relationship between molecular structure and a ctivity. It was found that both the strength and selectivity of the bi ological effect of surfactants differ considerably from each other and considerably depend on the molecular structure. IL was established th at the strength of the effect mainly depends on the hydrophobicity of surfactants whereas both the hydrophobicity and the length of polar et hylene oxide chain exert a significant influence on the selectivity in dicating the involvement of hydrophobic and hydrophilic forces in the surfactant-target interaction. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.