4: Solvation
- Page ID
- 294283
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- 4.1: Solvation
- Solvation describes the intermolecular interactions of a molecule or ion in solution with the surrounding solvent, which for our purposes will refer to water. Aqueous solvation influences an enormous range of problems in molecular biophysics, including (1) charge transfer and charge stabilization; (2) chemical and enzymatic reactivity; (3) the hydrophobic effect; (4) solubility, phase separation, and precipitation; (5) binding affinity; (6) self-assembly; and (7) transport processes in water.
- 4.2: Solvation Thermodynamics
- Let’s consider the thermodynamics of an aqueous solvation problem. This will help identify various physical processes that occur in solvation, and identify limitations to this approach. Solvation is described as the change in free energy to take the solute from a reference state, commonly taken to be the isolated solute in vacuum, into dilute aqueous solution.