Abstract
THE viscosity of sodium thymonucleate solutions shows some peculiar characteristics. There is considerable reduction in viscosity of a dilute solution of sodium thymonucleate in presence of neutral salts and alkali. Greenstein and Jenrette1, as also Tennent and Vilbrandt2, have postulated the reversible depolymerization of the nucleic acid molecule in presence of neutral salt and alkali. From the measurement of dissymmetry by the light-scattering method, Smith and Sheffer3 have shown that the nucleic acid molecules coil up in solution in presence of neutral salts. The peculiar viscosity effect may similarly be attributed to coiling and uncoiling of the molecules rather than to reversible depolymerization in presence of salt. Since nucleic acid is a long-chain molecule with the acid groups distributed along the chain, it is to be expected that the sodium salt of the acid will behave as a polyelectrolyte, according to Fuoss's contention4, in solution, and the peculiar viscosity characteristics may be explained on the assumption of a coiling-uncoiling effect with the extent of dissociation. Viscosity measurements of sodium thymonucleate solution have been under-taken in this laboratory, and it will be evident from the accompanying graph that the reduced viscosity (ηsp/c) increases as the solution is diluted, a result contrary to that for neutral polymers and similar to that of polyelectrolytes.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Greenstein and Jenrette, J. Nat. Cancer Inst., 1, 77 (1940).
Tennent and Vilbrandt, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 65, 1806 (1943).
Smith and Sheffer, Canad. J. Research, 28, 96 (1950).
Fuoss, Science, 108, 545 (1948).
Tennent and Vilbrandt, J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 65, 424 (1943).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
BASU, S. Viscosity of Sodium Thymonucleate. Nature 168, 341–342 (1951). https://doi.org/10.1038/168341a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/168341a0
This article is cited by
-
Sadhan Basu — a physical chemist extraordinaire
Resonance (2013)
-
Viscosity behaviour of solutions of Graham's salt in media of different dielectric constants
Kolloid-Zeitschrift und Zeitschrift für Polymere (1973)
-
Studies in inorganic polyelectrolytes — Part II
Kolloid-Zeitschrift (1958)
-
Viscosity of Sodium Salt of Polyuronide Hemicellulose from Jute
Nature (1952)
-
Structure of Synthetic Polypeptides
Nature (1952)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.