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Abstract:
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.
