Used in Biochemistry
a decrease of solvency of non-polar species in polar solvents upon addition of salts.
This effect is widely used in biochemistry for precipitation, separation and coagulation of biomolecules from their aqueous solutions.
The salting-out effect results from the formation of ion (specially anion)–water hydration complexes, which, in turn, decreases hydration, and hence, the solubility of the polymer and the salting-in effect results from a direct binding of the cations to the ether oxygens of the polymers.
Salting-In and Salting-Out of Water-Soluble Polymers in Aqueous Salt Solutions pdf
Interactions of macromolecules with salt ions: An electrostatic theory for the Hofmeister effect