Kirkwood-Buff integrals and density fluctuations in aqueous solution of caffeine

The Kirkwood-Buff theory is applied to caffeine aqueous solution. The integrals of radial distribution functions are calculated from the osmotic coefficient, density and sound velocity data at 25°C. The results are discussed in terms of density fluctuations of two components and the correlation between them. It is found that the concentration dependence of Kirkwood-Buff integrals reflects the association tendency of caffeine and its strong influence on the properties of the solvent.     

Simple relationship between the Kirkwood-Buff parameters and the fluctuations in the particle number and concentration obtained by small-angle X-ray scattering: Application to tert-butyl alcohol and water mixtures

By the use of the Bhatia and Thornton formulation for the scattering intensity of a two-component system, formulas are derived which connect the Kirkwood-Buff parameters with the fluctuations obtained from zero-angle X-ray scattering intensities, isothermal compressibilities and partial molar volumes. Using these formulas the Kirkwood-Buff parameters of TBA-water mixtures are obtained.     

Thermodynamics of Mixtures Containing Organic Carbonates. Part XV. Application of the Kirkwood-Buff Theory to the Study of Interactions in Liquid Mixtures Containing Dialkyl Carbonates and Alkanes,Benzene, CCl4 or 1-Alkanols

Binary liquid mixtures containing a dialkyl carbonate (dimethyl or diethyl carbonate) and organic solvents such as alkanes, benzene, CCl₄, or 1-alkanols were studied within the framework of the Kirkwood-Buff formalism. The Kirkwood-Buff integrals, linear coefficients of preferential solvation and local mole fractions were calculated. Results were interpreted assuming that the mixtures with alkanes or 1-alkanols are not random mixtures, which can be ascribed to the existence of strong dipolar interactions between like molecules. Systems containing benzene or CCl₄ are both random and more ordered because of the charge transfer or dipole/induced dipole interactions between the polar group of the solute (O–CO–O) and the polarizable solvent molecules. The effect of increasing temperature was also examined.     

A Rayleigh light scattering study on mixing states of 2-propanol-water binary mixtures widely used as mobile phase in separation

Rayleigh light scatterings of 2-propanol-water binary mixtures at 546 nm have been measured by using a conventional fluorophotometer at 25 degrees C. Mean square concentration fluctuations and Kirkwood-Buff parameters of the mixtures in a range of 2-propanol mole fraction of 0.0/=0.4. The usage of 2-propanol as organic modifier and its effects on CE and RPLC separations are also discussed in terms of microheterogeneity in the mobile phase.     

Local fluctuations in solution mixtures

An extension of the traditional Kirkwood-Buff (KB) theory of solutions is outlined which provides additional fluctuating quantities that can be used to characterize and probe the behavior of solution mixtures. Particle-energy and energy-energy fluctuations for local regions of any multicomponent solution are expressed in terms of experimentally obtainable quantities, thereby supplementing the usual particle-particle fluctuations provided by the established KB inversion approach. The expressions are then used to analyze experimental data for pure water over a range of temperatures and pressures, a variety of pure liquids, and three binary solution mixtures - methanol and water, benzene and methanol, and aqueous sodium chloride. In addition to providing information on local properties of solutions it is argued that the particle-energy and energy-energy fluctuations can also be used to test and refine solute and solvent force fields for use in computer simulation studies.     

Modeling nonionic aqueous solutions: the acetone-water mixture

Several combinations of existing classical water and acetone models are studied by molecular dynamic simulations in order to sort out which models can reproduce available experimental data: enthalpies, pressure, densities, diffusion coefficients, and Kirkwood-Buff integrals. It turns out that all these properties, but the last, are rather well reproduced by all models, and with little numerical effort. By contrast, trials to measure by simulations the Kirkwood-Buff integrals lead to very long simulation times, thus revealing unexpected divergent behavior between the different models, such as phase separation, for example, and ultimately leading to a failure of any models combinations to reproduce these properties according to the experimental tendencies. It is argued herein that these deficiencies provide, in fact, an insightful picture of the microscopic structure of the solution, particularly into the relation between the hydrogen-bond network and the concentration fluctuations, as well as the role played by the solute in their spatial organization.     

A critique of some recent suggestions to correct the Kirkwood-Buff integrals

This article is a thorough critique of some recent publications by Matteoli, Lepori, Ruckenstein and others who suggested a correction to the Kirkwood-Buff integrals to obtain "better" information on the molecular interactions. It is shown that the suggested "corrected" Kirkwood-Buff integrals are, in fact, less informative than the original integrals. A detailed and critical examination of the arguments that led to the suggested correction reveals some serious flaws. Therefore, it is argued that the corrected Kirkwood-Buff integrals should be "recorrected" to restore their original definition and meaning.     

Aqueous tert-butanol mixtures: a model for molecular-emulsions

By analogy with micro-emulsion, we introduce the molecular-emulsion picture to describe particular aqueous mixtures. The analogy is set by introducing the equivalent of the Teubner-Strey structure factor, the latter which is traditionally used to describe the structure of micro-emulsions. The main difference resides in the fact that the size of the oil and water domains are not in the micrometer, but in the nanometer scale. This implies that the molecular size and the molecular geometry cannot be neglected anymore. The introduction of this analogy is used to settle the problem of properly describing with computer simulations highly micro-heterogeneous aqueous mixtures. In particular, the issue of whether or not the Kirkwood-Buff integrals represent solely concentration fluctuations is settled by showing the contribution of the micro-heterogeneity to these integrals through the presence of an associated pre-peak in the structure factors. Both the Optimized Potentials for Liquid State (OPLS) and Transferable Potential for Phase Equilibria-United Atoms (TraPPE-UA) force fields for tert-butanol turn out to be remarkably good in describing the structure of the corresponding aqueous mixtures, when the above-mentioned analogy with micro-emulsion is introduced to correct for the computational artifacts in the Kirkwood-Buff integrals.     

室温离子液体[bmim][BF4]和水混合物的计算机模拟研究

针对室温离子液体[bmim][BF₄]和水的混合物, 用分子动力学模拟研究了溶液的微观组成与浓度的关系. 模拟结果表明：该混合物中各组分间的径向分布函数随[bmim][BF₄]摩尔分数的增加呈有规律的变化；在此基础上计算了溶液的局部组成以及组分间的缔合因子, 进一步考察了各组分间的相互作用情况；另外基于Kirkwood-Buff理论估算了混合物的偏摩尔体积、等温压缩因子以及活度系数对浓度的偏导数, 对于理解离子液体与水之间的交互作用具有一定的参考意义.     

Structures of alkyl benzoate binary mixtures. A Kirkwood-Buff fluctuation theory study using UNIFAC

The structure of the alkyl benzoate + n-alkane, and + alkan-1-ol binary mixtures were analyzed according to the Kirkwood-Buff fluctuation theory on the basis of both the mixture properties measured over a wide temperature range and the activity coefficients calculated with the modified UNIFAC (Dortmund) model as well. Application of this model reveals that both the microheterogeneous structure and the clustering effects are strongly dependent on the chain length of the n-alkane and alkan-1-ol cosolvents. Knowledge of the local composition around each type of molecule is drawn from the Kirkwood-Buff integrals and the excess (or deficit) molecules aggregated around a central one. The rather high values of the integrals evaluated for some of these systems provide first-hand evidence for phase splitting. The conclusions drawn support previous analyses and confirm the adequacy of the methodology put forward for studying liquid mixtures at microscopic level; easily measurable experimental properties can advantageously be used with the fluctuation theory.     

Preferential solvation in three component systems: Evaluation of Kirkwood-Buff parameters

The extent of local excess or deficiency of a component solvent near the solute in a mixed binary solvent has been calculated using the Hall formalism for the Kirkwood-Buff equation. The possibility of calculation of the two solute-solvent Kirkwood-Buff parameters using the values is discussed. A model calculation using literature data for preferential solvation in mixed binary solvents is presented. The solute-solvent and solvent-solvent interactions and the relative size of the solvents are also shown to be relevant factors in determining the values.     

A fluctuation theory analysis of the salting-out effect

An analysis of the salting-out, or Sechenow, effect is given in terms of Kirkwood-Buff, or fluctuation, integrals. The analysis is formally exact but cannot easily be applied in its original form. When the solute that is being salted out is sparingly soluble, simplifications arise and the theory can be used to compute one of the Kirkwood-Buff integrals which is otherwise difficult to obtain.     

Surface tension of a Lennard-Jones liquid under supersaturation

A formally exact Kirkwood-Buff virial formula for the surface tension of a supersaturated interface is derived. A modified Gibbs ensemble method is given that allows the creation of interacting supersaturated phases of equal chemical potential, and which enables the Kirkwood-Buff formula to be applied. The methods are tested by Monte Carlo simulation of a supersaturated Lennard-Jones fluid with a planar liquid-vapor interface. The Kirkwood-Buff results for the supersaturated surface tension are found to be in reasonable agreement with new results obtained here using the recently developed, formally exact, ghost interface method, [M. P. Moody and P. Attard, J. Chem. Phys., 2002, 117, 6705]. The surface tension is obtained as a function of supersaturation at four temperatures, and it is found to decrease with increasing supersaturation, and to vanish at the vapor spinodal. The relevance of the present results to the nucleation of droplets in a supersaturated vapor is discussed.     

室温离子液体[bmim][BF_4]和水混合物的计算机模拟研究

针对室温离子液体[bmim][BF4]和水的混合物,用分子动力学模拟研究了溶液的微观组成与浓度的关系.模拟结果表明:该混合物中各组分间的径向分布函数随[bmim][BF4]摩尔分数的增加呈有规律的变化;在此基础上计算了溶液的局部组成以及组分间的缔合因子,进一步考察了各组分间的相互作用情况;另外基于Kirkwood-Buff理论估算了混合物的偏摩尔体积、等温压缩因子以及活度系数对浓度的偏导数,对于理解离子液体与水之间的交互作用具有一定的参考意义.     

Local and global properties of mixtures in one-dimensional systems. Part I. Mixtures of two simple components

Two sets of quantities are calculated for two-component mixtures in one dimension. One consists of the traditional excess thermodynamic quantities which provide global information on the mixtures. The second, referred to as local properties, consists of the Kirkwood-Buff integrals, local composition, solvation, and preferential solvation quantities. In this part, we discuss simple particles interacting via either square-well potential or hard rod potential. It is shown that a host of new information can be obtained from the local properties of the mixtures which supplements the information conveyed by the global properties.     

Equation of state of charged colloidal suspensions and its dependence on the thermodynamic route

The thermodynamic properties of highly charged colloidal suspensions in contact with a salt reservoir are investigated in the framework of the renormalized Jellium model (RJM). It is found that the equation of state is very sensitive to the particular thermodynamic route used to obtain it. Specifically, the osmotic pressure calculated within the RJM using the contact value theorem can be very different from the pressure calculated using the Kirkwood-Buff fluctuation relations. On the other hand, Monte Carlo simulations show that both the effective pair potentials and the correlation functions are accurately predicted by the RJM. It is suggested that the lack of self-consistency in the thermodynamics of the RJM is a result of neglected electrostatic correlations between the counterions and coions.     

Preferential hydration and the exclusion of cosolvents from protein surfaces

Protein stability is enhanced by the addition of osmolytes, such as sugars and polyols and inert crowders, such as polyethylene glycols. This stability enhancement has been quantified by the preferential hydration parameter which can be determined by experiments. To understand the mechanism of protein stability enhancement, we present a statistical mechanical analysis of the preferential hydration parameter based upon Kirkwood-Buff theory. Previously, the preferential hydration parameter was interpreted in terms of the number of hydration waters, as well as the cosolvent exclusion volume. It was not clear how accurate these interpretations were, nor what the relationship is between the two. By using the Kirkwood-Buff theory and experimental data, we conclude that the contribution from the cosolvent exclusion dominantly determines the preferential hydration parameters for crowders. For osmolytes, although the cosolvent exclusion largely determines the preferential hydration parameters, the contribution from hydration may not be negligible.     

A new force field for atomistic simulations of aqueous tertiary butanol solutions

We present a new tert-butanol force field parametrized to reproduce the mixture thermodynamics of tert-butanol/water over a wide range of solution compositions at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The experimental Kirkwood-Buff integrals, which quantify preferential solvation of solution components by the same species or by the other components, were used as target values to be reproduced. Water was modeled using the simple point charge model. In the range of alcohol mole fractions between 0.02 and 0.98, our optimized model satisfactorily reproduces alcohol-alcohol, water-water, and alcohol-water aggregation behavior. As a consequence, the solution activity derivatives are reproduced as well. A comparison has been made with solution activities obtained by free energy calculations (i.e., thermodynamic integration). It clearly shows that the Kirkwood-Buff based approach performs superior in predicting solution activities of liquid mixtures. The new tert-butanol model has been used to examine the solution structure and hydrophobic interactions in aqueous tert-butanol at the various mixture compositions. A comparison is made with structural data obtained by neutron diffraction.     

Kirkwood-Buff integrals of aqueous alcohol binary mixtures

The Kirkwood-Buff integrals of some binary aqueous alcohol mixtures are computed from the available vapor pressure measurements and compared with previous results as well as small angle neutron scattering experiments. The emphasis of the present report is on accuracy of the results that can be achieved by these two different types of measurements. This seems to be needed, mainly in view of the discrepancies between the various published results, as shown herein. It is argued that agreement in peak positions is more important than that in magnitude. In general, very good agreement is obtained by both methods, and sources of disagreements are discussed. The issue of the computer simulations of aqueous systems and the problematics related to correlations, microheterogeneity, and consequently the Kirkwood-Buff integrals are equally discussed herein.     

Characterization and preferential solvation of the hexane/hexan-1-ol/methylbenzoate ternary solvent

The thermophysical properties of the hexane/hexan-1-ol/methylbenzoate ternary system and its binary constituents were studied at 298.15 K over the whole composition range. The excess and mixing properties calculated from the experimental values combined with the mixture activity coefficients deduced from the UNIFAC group contribution method were used to calculate the integrals of the Kirkwood-Buff fluctuation theory for the ternary system and the binary constituents. Also the local composition and the excess or deficit number of molecules around a central molecule have been determined. The volumetric properties for the ternary system and its binary constituents were correlated and predicted successfully with several cubic equations of state combined with two simple mixing rules. The structural and intermolecular interactions of the mixtures were analyzed on the basis of the measured and derived properties.