Salt compounds dissociate in aqueous solutions. This property is exploited in the process of salting out. When the salt concentration is increased,
some of the water molecules are attracted by the salt ions, which decreases the number of water molecules available to interact with the charged part of the protein. There are
hydrophobic amino acids and
hydrophilic amino acids in
protein molecules. After protein folding in aqueous solution, hydrophobic amino acids usually form protected hydrophobic areas while hydrophilic amino acids interact with the molecules of
solvation and allow proteins to form hydrogen bonds with the surrounding water molecules. If enough of the protein surface is hydrophilic, the protein can be dissolved in water. When salt is added to the solution, there is more frequent interaction between solvent molecules and salt ions. As a result, the protein and salt ions compete to interact with the solvent molecules with the result that there are fewer solvent molecules available for interaction with the protein molecules than before. The
protein–protein interactions thus become stronger than the solvent–solute interactions and the protein molecules associate by forming
hydrophobic interactions with each other. After dissociation in a given solvent, the negatively charged atoms from a chosen salt begin to compete for interactions with positively charged molecules present in the solution. Similarly, the positively charged cations compete for interactions with the negatively charged molecules of the solvent. This process is known as salting out. Soaps are easily precipitated by concentrated salt solution, the metal ion in the salt reacts with the fatty acids forming back the soap and
glycerin (glycerol). To separate glycerin from the soap, the pasty boiling mass is treated with brine (NaCl solution). Contents of the kettle salt out (separate) into an upper layer that is a curdy mass of impure soap and a lower layer that consists of an aqueous salt solution with the glycerin dissolved in it. The slightly alkaline salt solution, termed spent lye, is extracted from the bottom of the pan or kettle and may be subsequently treated for glycerin recovery. ==Application==