A study was conducted with derivatives of the DNA nucleotide bases adenine and thymine bound inside micelles (Box 25-1) in aqueous solution.

Sodium dodecyl sulfate forms micelles with the hydrocarbon tails pointed inward and ionic headgroups exposed to water. It was hypothesized that the bases would form a 1:1 hydrogen-bonded complex inside the micelle as they do in DNA:

To test the hypothesis, aliquots of 5.0 mM adenine derivative were mixed with aliquots of 5.0 mM thymine derivative in proportions shown in the table. Each solution also contained 20 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate. The concentration of product measured by nuclear magnetic resonance also is shown in the table. Are the results consistent with formation of a 1:1 complex? Explain your answer.

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|| CH,CNH || CH,(CH,),OSO Na+ HN N(CH, Br Adenine derivative Thymine derivative Sodium dodecyl sulfate