New perspectives on hydrophobic effects

Recent breakthroughs in the theory of hydrophobic effects permit new analyses of several characteristics of hydrophobic hydration and interaction. Heat capacities of non-polar solvation, and their temperature dependences, are analyzed within an information theory approach, using experimental information available from bulk liquid water. Non-polar solvation in aqueous electrolytes is studied by computer simulations, and interpreted within the information theory. We also study the preferential solvation of small non-polar molecules in heavy water (D2O) relative to light water (H2O) and find that this revealing difference can be explained by the higher compressibility of D2O. We develop a quasi-chemical description of hydrophobic hydration that incorporates the hydration structure and permits quantum-mechanical treatment of the solute. Finally, these new results are discussed in the context of hydrophobic effects in protein stability and folding, and of mesoscopic hydrophobic effects such as dewetting.

@article{hummer2000new,
  title   = {New perspectives on hydrophobic effects},
  author  = {Hummer, G and Garde, S and Garc{\'\i}a, AE and Pratt, LR},
  journal = {Chem. Phys.},
  volume  = {258},
  number  = {2},
  pages   = {349--370},
  year    = {2000},
  doi     = {10.1016/S0301-0104(00)00115-4}
}