Aqueous solutions of the antimicrobially effective quaternary ammonium salt benzethonium chloride (hyamine 1622) were studied using UV spectrophotometry and partially conductometry. The spectra of micellar solutions of benzethonium chloride revealed a concentration-dependent bathochromic and hyperchromic shift of a weak UV absorption band in the region 250–300 nm. This served to elaborate the spectrophotometric determination of the critical micellar concentration (CMC) of benzethonium chloride and the concentration of free benzethonium cations in micellar solutions without an addition of NaCl and with a constant addition of NaCl 0.003, 0.1 and 0.15 mol/l. Premicellar associations were not observed and in NaCl-free solutions CMC 0.0028 mol/l was spectrophotometrically determined. An addition of NaCl resulted in an increased hyperchromic effect and strengthening of micellization, manifested by a more than ten-times decrease in the CMC as well as the concentration of free benzethonium cations in micellar solutions. The courses of the determined concentrations of free benzethonium cations in the solutions both without and with the presence of NaCl were quite similar; their maximal values were always just a little higher than the corresponding CMC and with a further growth of the total concentration of benzethonium chloride there was, on the other hand, a marked decrease in the concentration of its free cations in micellar solution. Possible effects of a decreased concentration of free benzethonium cations due to an added electrolyte on antimicrobial activity and formation of ionic pairs are discussed.

        Key words: benzethonium chloride – cationic surfactant – micellar solutions – spectrophotometry – conductometry