This study examined the effect of steric factors near the stereogenic center on polymerized surfactants, sodium N-undecyl-L-leucine, sodium N-undecyl-L-norleucine, sodium N-undecyl-L-tert.-butyl leucine, sodium N-undecyl-L-isoleucine, sodium N-undecyl-L-valine, sodium N-undecyl-L-norvaline, and sodium N-undecyl-L-proline. The effect of steric factors near the chiral center of the polymeric surfactants were examined using binaphthyl derivatives, aminoglutethimide, and 2,2,2-trifluoro-1-(9-anthryl)ethanol. In addition, fluorescence spectroscopy was used to determine the hydrophobicities of these surfactants using the environmentally-sensitive probe pyrene. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.