H. S. Ashbaugh | Searcharxiv

arXiv2013

Direct Numerical Test of the Statistical Mechanical Theory of Hydrophobic Interactions

This work tests the statistical mechanical theory of hydrophobic interactions, isolates consequences of excluded volume interactions, and obtains B2 for those purposes. Cavity methods that are particularly appropriate for study of hydrophobic interactions between atomic-size hard spheres in liquid water are developed and applied to test aspects of the Pratt-Chandler (PC) theory that have not been tested. Contact hydrophobic interactions between Ar-size hard-spheres in water are significantly more attractive than predicted by the PC theory. The corresponding results for the osmotic second virial coefficient are attractive (B2 <0), and more attractive with increasing temperature (Delta B2/Delta T < 0) in the temperature range 300K < T < 360K. This information has not been available previously, but is essential for development of the molecular-scale statistical mechanical theory of hydrophobic interactions, particularly for better definition of the role of attractive intermolecular interactions associated with the solutes.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2003

Absolute Hydration Free Energies of Ions, Ion-Water Clusters, and Quasi-chemical Theory

Experimental studies on ion-water clusters have provided insights into the microscopic aspects of hydration phenomena. One common view is that extending those experimental studies to larger cluster sizes would give the single ion absolute hydration free energies not obtainable by classical thermodynamic methods. This issue is reanalyzed in the context of recent computations and molecular theories on ion hydration, particularly considering the hydration of H$^+$, Li$^+$, Na$^+$, and HO$^-$ ions and thence the hydration of neutral ion pairs. The hydration free energies of neutral pairs computed here are in good agreement with experimental results, whereas the calculated absolute hydration free energies, and the excess chemical potentials, deviate consistently from some recently tabulated hydration free energies based on ion-water cluster data. We show how the single ion absolute hydration free energies are not separated from the potential of the phase in recent analyses of ion-water cluster data, even in the limit of large cluster sizes. We conclude that naive calculations on ion-water clusters ought to agree with results obtained from experimental studies of ion-water clusters because both values include the contribution, somewhat extraneous to the local environment of the ion, from the potential of the phase.

physics.chem-ph↗