Hydrophobic hydration of inert gases: Thermodynamic properties, inherent structures, and normal-mode analysis

Computer simulations on water and aqueous solutions of noble gases have been carried out in order to study the structures of water around a solute. The hydration energy and free energy evaluated for neon (Ne) and xenon (Xe) solutions in the present study were in good agreement with those by experiments. The detailed hydration structures were investigated by means of the so called inherent structures and normal-mode analyses. It was found that the positive excess free energy in the hydration of Xe arises from a decrease in the number of distinct potential-energy minima in configuration space and that the free energy increase in the Ne solution is due partly to the decrease in the number of the potential minima and partly to the anharmonic modes which are harder than those in pure water. The soft anharmonic modes in the Xe solution were almost equivalent to those in pure water. The introduction of a Xe solute gives rise to a change in water structure to a clathrate-like structure and yields an increase in population of the cyclic pentamer connected by hydrogen bonds, which leads to the exothermic hydration.