Solvation

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A sodium ion solvated by water molecules Na+H2O.svg
A sodium ion solvated by water molecules

Solvation describes the interaction of a solvent with dissolved molecules. Both ionized and uncharged molecules interact strongly with a solvent, and the strength and nature of this interaction influence many properties of the solute, including solubility, reactivity, and color, as well as influencing the properties of the solvent such as its viscosity and density. [1] If the attractive forces between the solvent and solute particles are greater than the attractive forces holding the solute particles together, the solvent particles pull the solute particles apart and surround them. The surrounded solute particles then move away from the solid solute and out into the solution. Ions are surrounded by a concentric shell of solvent. Solvation is the process of reorganizing solvent and solute molecules into solvation complexes and involves bond formation, hydrogen bonding, and van der Waals forces. Solvation of a solute by water is called hydration. [2]

Contents

Solubility of solid compounds depends on a competition between lattice energy and solvation, including entropy effects related to changes in the solvent structure. [3]

Distinction from solubility

By an IUPAC definition, [4] solvation is an interaction of a solute with the solvent, which leads to stabilization of the solute species in the solution. In the solvated state, an ion or molecule in a solution is surrounded or complexed by solvent molecules. Solvated species can often be described by coordination number, and the complex stability constants. The concept of the solvation interaction can also be applied to an insoluble material, for example, solvation of functional groups on a surface of ion-exchange resin.

Solvation is, in concept, distinct from solubility. Solvation or dissolution is a kinetic process and is quantified by its rate. Solubility quantifies the dynamic equilibrium state achieved when the rate of dissolution equals the rate of precipitation. The consideration of the units makes the distinction clearer. The typical unit for dissolution rate is mol/s. The units for solubility express a concentration: mass per volume (mg/mL), molarity (mol/L), etc.[ citation needed ]

Solvents and intermolecular interactions

Solvation involves different types of intermolecular interactions:

Which of these forces are at play depends on the molecular structure and properties of the solvent and solute. The similarity or complementary character of these properties between solvent and solute determines how well a solute can be solvated by a particular solvent.

Nile red at daylight (top row) and UV-light (second row) in different solvents. From left to right: 1. Water, 2. Methanol, 3. Ethanol, 4. Acetonitrile, 5. Dimethylformamide, 6. Acetone, 7. Ethylacetate, 8. Dichlormethane 9. n-Hexane, 10. Methyl-tert-Butylether, 11. Cyclohexane, 12. Toluene. Photographer: Armin Kubelbeck, CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons Nile red 01.jpg
Nile red at daylight (top row) and UV-light (second row) in different solvents. From left to right: 1. Water, 2. Methanol, 3. Ethanol, 4. Acetonitrile, 5. Dimethylformamide, 6. Acetone, 7. Ethylacetate, 8. Dichlormethane 9. n-Hexane, 10. Methyl-tert-Butylether, 11. Cyclohexane, 12. Toluene. Photographer: Armin Kübelbeck, CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons

Solvent polarity is the most important factor in determining how well it solvates a particular solute. Polar solvents have molecular dipoles, meaning that part of the solvent molecule has more electron density than another part of the molecule. The part with more electron density will experience a partial negative charge while the part with less electron density will experience a partial positive charge. Polar solvent molecules can solvate polar solutes and ions because they can orient the appropriate partially charged portion of the molecule towards the solute through electrostatic attraction. This stabilizes the system and creates a solvation shell (or hydration shell in the case of water) around each particle of solute. The solvent molecules in the immediate vicinity of a solute particle often have a much different ordering than the rest of the solvent, and this area of differently ordered solvent molecules is called the cybotactic region. [5] Water is the most common and well-studied polar solvent, but others exist, such as ethanol, methanol, acetone, acetonitrile, and dimethyl sulfoxide. Polar solvents are often found to have a high dielectric constant, although other solvent scales are also used to classify solvent polarity. Polar solvents can be used to dissolve inorganic or ionic compounds such as salts. The conductivity of a solution depends on the solvation of its ions. Nonpolar solvents cannot solvate ions, and ions will be found as ion pairs.

Hydrogen bonding among solvent and solute molecules depends on the ability of each to accept H-bonds, donate H-bonds, or both. Solvents that can donate H-bonds are referred to as protic, while solvents that do not contain a polarized bond to a hydrogen atom and cannot donate a hydrogen bond are called aprotic. H-bond donor ability is classified on a scale (α). [6] Protic solvents can solvate solutes that can accept hydrogen bonds. Similarly, solvents that can accept a hydrogen bond can solvate H-bond-donating solutes. The hydrogen bond acceptor ability of a solvent is classified on a scale (β). [7] Solvents such as water can both donate and accept hydrogen bonds, making them excellent at solvating solutes that can donate or accept (or both) H-bonds.

Some chemical compounds experience solvatochromism, which is a change in color due to solvent polarity. This phenomenon illustrates how different solvents interact differently with the same solute. Other solvent effects include conformational or isomeric preferences and changes in the acidity of a solute.

Solvation energy and thermodynamic considerations

The solvation process will be thermodynamically favored only if the overall Gibbs energy of the solution is decreased, compared to the Gibbs energy of the separated solvent and solid (or gas or liquid). This means that the change in enthalpy minus the change in entropy (multiplied by the absolute temperature) is a negative value, or that the Gibbs energy of the system decreases. A negative Gibbs energy indicates a spontaneous process but does not provide information about the rate of dissolution.

Solvation involves multiple steps with different energy consequences. First, a cavity must form in the solvent to make space for a solute. This is both entropically and enthalpically unfavorable, as solvent ordering increases and solvent-solvent interactions decrease. Stronger interactions among solvent molecules leads to a greater enthalpic penalty for cavity formation. Next, a particle of solute must separate from the bulk. This is enthalpically unfavorable since solute-solute interactions decrease, but when the solute particle enters the cavity, the resulting solvent-solute interactions are enthalpically favorable. Finally, as solute mixes into solvent, there is an entropy gain. [5]

Effect of solvent on solubility.png

The enthalpy of solution is the solution enthalpy minus the enthalpy of the separate systems, whereas the entropy of solution is the corresponding difference in entropy. The solvation energy (change in Gibbs free energy) is the change in enthalpy minus the product of temperature (in Kelvin) times the change in entropy. Gases have a negative entropy of solution, due to the decrease in gaseous volume as gas dissolves. Since their enthalpy of solution does not decrease too much with temperature, and their entropy of solution is negative and does not vary appreciably with temperature, most gases are less soluble at higher temperatures.

Enthalpy of solvation can help explain why solvation occurs with some ionic lattices but not with others. The difference in energy between that which is necessary to release an ion from its lattice and the energy given off when it combines with a solvent molecule is called the enthalpy change of solution. A negative value for the enthalpy change of solution corresponds to an ion that is likely to dissolve, whereas a high positive value means that solvation will not occur. It is possible that an ion will dissolve even if it has a positive enthalpy value. The extra energy required comes from the increase in entropy that results when the ion dissolves. The introduction of entropy makes it harder to determine by calculation alone whether a substance will dissolve or not. A quantitative measure for solvation power of solvents is given by donor numbers. [8]

Although early thinking was that a higher ratio of a cation's ion charge to ionic radius, or the charge density, resulted in more solvation, this does not stand up to scrutiny for ions like iron(III) or lanthanides and actinides, which are readily hydrolyzed to form insoluble (hydrous) oxides. As these are solids, it is apparent that they are not solvated.

Strong solvent–solute interactions make the process of solvation more favorable. One way to compare how favorable the dissolution of a solute is in different solvents is to consider the free energy of transfer. The free energy of transfer quantifies the free energy difference between dilute solutions of a solute in two different solvents. This value essentially allows for comparison of solvation energies without including solute-solute interactions. [5]

In general, thermodynamic analysis of solutions is done by modeling them as reactions. For example, if you add sodium chloride to water, the salt will dissociate into the ions sodium(+aq) and chloride(-aq). The equilibrium constant for this dissociation can be predicted by the change in Gibbs energy of this reaction.

The Born equation is used to estimate Gibbs free energy of solvation of a gaseous ion.

Recent simulation studies have shown that the variation in solvation energy between the ions and the surrounding water molecules underlies the mechanism of the Hofmeister series. [9] [1]

Macromolecules and assemblies

Solvation (specifically, hydration) is important for many biological structures and processes. For instance, solvation of ions and/or of charged macromolecules, like DNA and proteins, in aqueous solutions influences the formation of heterogeneous assemblies, which may be responsible for biological function. [10] As another example, protein folding occurs spontaneously, in part because of a favorable change in the interactions between the protein and the surrounding water molecules. Folded proteins are stabilized by 5-10 kcal/mol relative to the unfolded state due to a combination of solvation and the stronger intramolecular interactions in the folded protein structure, including hydrogen bonding. [11] Minimizing the number of hydrophobic side chains exposed to water by burying them in the center of a folded protein is a driving force related to solvation.

Solvation also affects host–guest complexation. Many host molecules have a hydrophobic pore that readily encapsulates a hydrophobic guest. These interactions can be used in applications such as drug delivery, such that a hydrophobic drug molecule can be delivered in a biological system without needing to covalently modify the drug in order to solubilize it. Binding constants for host–guest complexes depend on the polarity of the solvent. [12]

Hydration affects electronic and vibrational properties of biomolecules. [13] [14]

Importance of solvation in computer simulations

Due to the importance of the effects of solvation on the structure of macromolecules, early computer simulations which attempted to model their behaviors without including the effects of solvent (in vacuo) could yield poor results when compared with experimental data obtained in solution. Small molecules may also adopt more compact conformations when simulated in vacuo; this is due to favorable van der Waals interactions and intramolecular electrostatic interactions which would be dampened in the presence of a solvent.

As computer power increased, it became possible to try and incorporate the effects of solvation within a simulation and the simplest way to do this is to surround the molecule being simulated with a "skin" of solvent molecules, akin to simulating the molecule within a drop of solvent if the skin is sufficiently deep. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

An intermolecular force (IMF) is the force that mediates interaction between molecules, including the electromagnetic forces of attraction or repulsion which act between atoms and other types of neighbouring particles, e.g. atoms or ions. Intermolecular forces are weak relative to intramolecular forces – the forces which hold a molecule together. For example, the covalent bond, involving sharing electron pairs between atoms, is much stronger than the forces present between neighboring molecules. Both sets of forces are essential parts of force fields frequently used in molecular mechanics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solution (chemistry)</span> Homogeneous mixture of a solute and a solvent

In chemistry, a solution is a special type of homogeneous mixture composed of two or more substances. In such a mixture, a solute is a substance dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. If the attractive forces between the solvent and solute particles are greater than the attractive forces holding the solute particles together, the solvent particles pull the solute particles apart and surround them. These surrounded solute particles then move away from the solid solute and out into the solution. The mixing process of a solution happens at a scale where the effects of chemical polarity are involved, resulting in interactions that are specific to solvation. The solution usually has the state of the solvent when the solvent is the larger fraction of the mixture, as is commonly the case. One important parameter of a solution is the concentration, which is a measure of the amount of solute in a given amount of solution or solvent. The term "aqueous solution" is used when one of the solvents is water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solvent</span> Substance dissolving a solute resulting in a solution

A solvent is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for polar molecules, and the most common solvent used by living things; all the ions and proteins in a cell are dissolved in water within the cell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solubility</span> Capacity of a substance to dissolve in a homogeneous way

In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a substance, the solute, to form a solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form such a solution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micelle</span> Group of fatty molecules suspended in liquid by soaps and/or detergents

A micelle or micella is an aggregate of surfactant amphipathic lipid molecules dispersed in a liquid, forming a colloidal suspension. A typical micelle in water forms an aggregate with the hydrophilic "head" regions in contact with surrounding solvent, sequestering the hydrophobic single-tail regions in the micelle centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solvation shell</span> Solvent interface of a solute

A solvation shell or solvation sheath is the solvent interface of any chemical compound or biomolecule that constitutes the solute in a solution. When the solvent is water it is called a hydration shell or hydration sphere. The number of solvent molecules surrounding each unit of solute is called the hydration number of the solute.

In thermochemistry, the enthalpy of solution is the enthalpy change associated with the dissolution of a substance in a solvent at constant pressure resulting in infinite dilution.

A chaotropic agent is a molecule in water solution that can disrupt the hydrogen bonding network between water molecules. This has an effect on the stability of the native state of other molecules in the solution, mainly macromolecules by weakening the hydrophobic effect. For example, a chaotropic agent reduces the amount of order in the structure of a protein formed by water molecules, both in the bulk and the hydration shells around hydrophobic amino acids, and may cause its denaturation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrophobic effect</span> Aggregation of non-polar molecules in aqueous solutions

The hydrophobic effect is the observed tendency of nonpolar substances to aggregate in an aqueous solution and to be excluded by water. The word hydrophobic literally means "water-fearing", and it describes the segregation of water and nonpolar substances, which maximizes the entropy of water and minimizes the area of contact between water and nonpolar molecules. In terms of thermodynamics, the hydrophobic effect is the free energy change of water surrounding a solute. A positive free energy change of the surrounding solvent indicates hydrophobicity, whereas a negative free energy change implies hydrophilicity.

In chemistry, a non-covalent interaction differs from a covalent bond in that it does not involve the sharing of electrons, but rather involves more dispersed variations of electromagnetic interactions between molecules or within a molecule. The chemical energy released in the formation of non-covalent interactions is typically on the order of 1–5 kcal/mol. Non-covalent interactions can be classified into different categories, such as electrostatic, π-effects, van der Waals forces, and hydrophobic effects.

Co-solvents are defined as kosmotropic (order-making) if they contribute to the stability and structure of water-water interactions. In contrast, chaotropic (disorder-making) agents have the opposite effect, disrupting water structure, increasing the solubility of nonpolar solvent particles, and destabilizing solute aggregates. Kosmotropes cause water molecules to favorably interact, which in effect stabilizes intramolecular interactions in macromolecules such as proteins.

Joel Henry Hildebrand was an American educator and a pioneer chemist. He was a major figure in physical chemistry research specializing in liquids and nonelectrolyte solutions.

Implicit solvation is a method to represent solvent as a continuous medium instead of individual “explicit” solvent molecules, most often used in molecular dynamics simulations and in other applications of molecular mechanics. The method is often applied to estimate free energy of solute-solvent interactions in structural and chemical processes, such as folding or conformational transitions of proteins, DNA, RNA, and polysaccharides, association of biological macromolecules with ligands, or transport of drugs across biological membranes.

Protein precipitation is widely used in downstream processing of biological products in order to concentrate proteins and purify them from various contaminants. For example, in the biotechnology industry protein precipitation is used to eliminate contaminants commonly contained in blood. The underlying mechanism of precipitation is to alter the solvation potential of the solvent, more specifically, by lowering the solubility of the solute by addition of a reagent.

The proton affinity of an anion or of a neutral atom or molecule is the negative of the enthalpy change in the reaction between the chemical species concerned and a proton in the gas phase:

Hydrophobicity scales are values that define the relative hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of amino acid residues. The more positive the value, the more hydrophobic are the amino acids located in that region of the protein. These scales are commonly used to predict the transmembrane alpha-helices of membrane proteins. When consecutively measuring amino acids of a protein, changes in value indicate attraction of specific protein regions towards the hydrophobic region inside lipid bilayer.

In chemistry, ion association is a chemical reaction whereby ions of opposite electric charge come together in solution to form a distinct chemical entity. Ion associates are classified, according to the number of ions that associate with each other, as ion pairs, ion triplets, etc. Ion pairs are also classified according to the nature of the interaction as contact, solvent-shared or solvent-separated. The most important factor to determine the extent of ion association is the dielectric constant of the solvent. Ion associates have been characterized by means of vibrational spectroscopy, as introduced by Niels Bjerrum, and dielectric-loss spectroscopy.

In chemistry, solvent effects are the influence of a solvent on chemical reactivity or molecular associations. Solvents can have an effect on solubility, stability and reaction rates and choosing the appropriate solvent allows for thermodynamic and kinetic control over a chemical reaction.

A metal ion in aqueous solution or aqua ion is a cation, dissolved in water, of chemical formula [M(H2O)n]z+. The solvation number, n, determined by a variety of experimental methods is 4 for Li+ and Be2+ and 6 for most elements in periods 3 and 4 of the periodic table. Lanthanide and actinide aqua ions have higher solvation numbers (often 8 to 9), with the highest known being 11 for Ac3+. The strength of the bonds between the metal ion and water molecules in the primary solvation shell increases with the electrical charge, z, on the metal ion and decreases as its ionic radius, r, increases. Aqua ions are subject to hydrolysis. The logarithm of the first hydrolysis constant is proportional to z2/r for most aqua ions.

In computational chemistry, a solvent model is a computational method that accounts for the behavior of solvated condensed phases. Solvent models enable simulations and thermodynamic calculations applicable to reactions and processes which take place in solution. These include biological, chemical and environmental processes. Such calculations can lead to new predictions about the physical processes occurring by improved understanding.

References

  1. 1 2 M. Andreev; J. de Pablo; A. Chremos; J. F. Douglas (2018). "Influence of Ion Solvation on the Properties of Electrolyte Solutions". J. Phys. Chem. B. 122 (14): 4029–4034. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b00518. PMID   29611710.
  2. ↑ Cambell, Neil (2006). Chemistry - California Edition. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Prentice Hall. p. 734. ISBN   978-0-13-201304-8.
  3. ↑ Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 823. ISBN   978-0-08-037941-8.
  4. ↑ IUPAC , Compendium of Chemical Terminology , 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book") (1997). Online corrected version: (2006–) " solvation ". doi : 10.1351/goldbook.S05747
  5. 1 2 3 Eric V. Anslyn; Dennis A. Dougherty (2006). Modern Physical Organic Chemistry. University Science Books. ISBN   978-1-891389-31-3.
  6. ↑ Taft R. W., Kamlet M. J. (1976). "The solvatochromic comparison method. 2. The .alpha.-scale of solvent hydrogen-bond donor (HBD) acidities". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 98 (10): 2886–2894. doi:10.1021/ja00426a036.
  7. ↑ Taft R. W., Kamlet M. J. (1976). "The solvatochromic comparison method. 1. The .beta.-scale of solvent hydrogen-bond acceptor (HBA) basicities". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 98 (2): 377–383. doi:10.1021/ja00418a009.
  8. ↑ Gutmann V (1976). "Solvent effects on the reactivities of organometallic compounds". Coord. Chem. Rev. 18 (2): 225. doi:10.1016/S0010-8545(00)82045-7.
  9. ↑ M. Andreev; A. Chremos; J. de Pablo; J. F. Douglas (2017). "Coarse-Grained Model of the Dynamics of Electrolyte Solutions". J. Phys. Chem. B. 121 (34): 8195–8202. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b04297. PMID   28816050.
  10. ↑ A. Chremos; J. F. Douglas (2018). "Polyelectrolyte association and solvation". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 149 (16): 163305. Bibcode:2018JChPh.149p3305C. doi:10.1063/1.5030530. PMC   6217855 . PMID   30384680.
  11. ↑ Pace, CN; Shirley, BA; McNutt, M; Gajiwala, K (1996). "Forces contributing to the conformational stability of proteins". FASEB Journal. 10 (1): 75–83. doi: 10.1096/fasebj.10.1.8566551 . PMID   8566551. S2CID   20021399.
  12. ↑ Steed, J. W. and Atwood, J. L. (2013) Supramolecular Chemistry. 2nd ed. Wiley. ISBN   1118681509, 9781118681503.
  13. ↑ Mashaghi Alireza; et al. (2012). "Hydration strongly affects the molecular and electronic structure of membrane phospholipids". J. Chem. Phys. 136 (11): 114709. Bibcode:2012JChPh.136k4709M. doi: 10.1063/1.3694280 . PMID   22443792.
  14. ↑ Bonn Mischa; et al. (2012). "Interfacial Water Facilitates Energy Transfer by Inducing Extended Vibrations in Membrane Lipids". J Phys Chem. 116 (22): 6455–6460. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.709.5345 . doi:10.1021/jp302478a. PMID   22594454.
  15. ↑ Leach, Andrew R. (2001). Molecular modelling : principles and applications (2nd ed.). Harlow, England: Prentice Hall. p. 320. ISBN   0-582-38210-6. OCLC   45008511.

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