Dynamics and hydrogen bonding in liquid ethanol

Molecular dynamics simulations of liquid ethanol at three temperatures have been carried out. The hydrogen bonding states of ethanol molecules have been characterized by the number of hydrogen bonds in which the molecules participate. It is observed that the mean lifetimes of molecules in each hydrogen bonding state are markedly dependent on the temperature. Moreover, molecules with one hydrogen bond are more stable when they are donors than when they are acceptors. The dependence of the reorientational correlation functions on the hydrogen bonding state of molecules has been studied carefully. The decay of these functions is slower for molecules with higher numbers of hydrogen bonds and also becomes slower as temperature decreases. The relaxation for molecules with only one hydrogen bond is faster for those acting as proton donors than for those acting as proton acceptors. Finally, the results obtained by computer simulation are compared with those from recent measurements of the frequency-dependent dielectric permittivity of liquid ethanol.