Model for the hydration of nonpolar compounds and polymers.
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys
; 64(5 Pt 1): 051805, 2001 Nov.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11735956
ABSTRACT
We introduce an exactly solvable statistical-mechanical model of the hydration of nonpolar compounds, based on grouping water molecules in clusters where hydrogen bonds and isotropic interactions occur; interactions between clusters are neglected. Analytical results show that an effective strengthening of hydrogen bonds in the presence of the solute, together with a geometric reorganization of water molecules, are enough to yield hydrophobic behavior. We extend our model to describe a nonpolar homopolymer in aqueous solution, obtaining a clear evidence of both "cold" and "warm" swelling transitions. This suggests that our model could be relevant to describe some features of protein folding.
Buscar en Google
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys
Asunto de la revista:
BIOFISICA
/
FISIOLOGIA
Año:
2001
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Italia