- chaotropism
- The property of certain substances, usually ions ( e.g., SCN−, ClO4−, guanidinium), to disrupt the structure of water and thereby promote the solubility of nonpolar substances in polar solvents ( e.g., water), the unfolding of proteins, the elution from or movement through a chromatographic medium of an otherwise tightly bound substance, etc. [G. chaos, disorder, confusion, + trope, a turning]
Medical dictionary. 2011.