Clathrate cage model

Clathrate-Cage Model. The final water model which is of major interest is based on clathrate hydrate cage structures. It was originally proposed by Pauling (116), who noted the existence of clathrate hydrates of many inert gases and suggested, by analogy to the chlorine hydrate,... 

Only at first glance, the two approaches, the clathrate cage model and the cavity-based model, looked very different, the former based on the hydrogen bonding of water, and the later on the hard core of water. But taken all results together it would appear that both are just different perspectives on the same physics with different diagnostics reporting consequences of the same shifted balance between H bonds and vdW interactions. Actually, in a... 

The clathrate cage model states that the structure of water is strengthened around a hydrophobic solute, thus causing a large unfavorable entropic effect. The surrounding water molecules adopt only a few orientations (low entropy) to avoid wasting hydrogen... 

While the clathrate model is attractive, it is not correct to assume that the water is organized in some long-lived structure the observation that the self-diffusion coefficient for co-sphere water is larger than that for the solute rules this out. However, the rotational correlation time is shorter for ethanol and t-butyl alcohol in water (in the clathrate cage ) than in the pure liquid (Goldammer and Hertz, 1970 Goldammer and Zeidler, 1969). Nmr experiments show that in water the solvent dipole moments point away from the apolar groups (Hertz and Radle, 1973). 

Modeling by Pratt and Chandler [14], Zichi and Rossky [9, 15], Watanabe and Andersen [16], and Ravishanker et al. [17, 18] shows that the solvent-separated minimum can sometimes be most stable. For example. Figure 30.10 shows the krypton-krypton pair correlation function in water computed by Watanabe and Andersen [16] the second small peak represents a population of solvent-separated pairs. This state is stable because each nonpolar molecule is surrounded by a clathrate cage. Solvent-separated states are most likely to occur when the solutes are small [19]. 

Mixture Models Broken-Down Ice Structures. Historically, the mixture models have received considerably more attention than the uniformist, average models. Somewhat arbitrarily, we divide these as follows (1) broken-down ice lattice models (i.e., ice-like structural units in equilibrium with monomers) (2) cluster models (clusters in equilibrium with monomers) (3) models based on clathrate-like cages (again in equilibrium with monomers). In each case, it is understood that at least two species of water exist—namely, a bulky species representing some... 

Before proceeding, it is important to recall the significant feature which appears to distinguish the cluster model from the two other prominent mixture models—i.e., the broken-down ice lattice and the clathrate hydrate cage structures. The latter two theories allow for the existence of discrete sites in water, owing to the cavities present either in the ice... 

We have discussed some examples which indicate the existence of thermal anomalies at discrete temperatures in the properties of water and aqueous solutions. From these and earlier studies at least four thermal anomalies seem to occur between the melting and boiling points of water —namely, approximately near 15°, 30°, 45°, and 60°C. Current theories of water structure can be divided into two major groups—namely, the uniformist, average type of structure and the mixture models. Most of the available experimental evidence points to the correctness of the mixture models. Among these the clathrate models and/or the cluster models seem to be the most probable. Most likely, the size of these cages or clusters range from, say 20 to 100 molecules at room tempera-... 

The importance of carefully considering anomalies when studying the behavior of solute-solvent interactions has been stressed. For aqueous solutions, many anomalous results presented in the literature suggest the existence of some type of discreteness in water structure. Discreteness is consistent with a view of water structure providing distinct sites such as those found in the models of water, implying a broken down ice lattice structure or clathrate hydrate cage-like structures. 

Despite the formation of clathrate-like clusters and complete 512 cages during these simulations, the increased ordering observed from the radial distribution functions and local phase assignments resulted in the authors concluding that their simulation results are consistent with a local order model of nucleation, and therefore do not support the labile cluster model. 

The model of icebergs around nonpolar solute molecules in aqueous solution is clearly not a very realistic one. However, if solutions of hydrocarbons (or noble gases) are cooled, then the solid phase that sometimes separates out consists of a so-called gas hydrate (clathrate), in which water provides a particular kind of hydrogen-bonded framework containing cages that are occupied by the nonpolar solute molecules. Obviously, such gas hydrates (clathrates) represent more realistic models for the phenomenon of hydrophobic hydration [176]. 

There are important differences between the literature models and our results. In our case, (i) the number of monomers is smaller than that in the Pauling model (where they are present in clathrate-like cages), and (ii) they coexist with a disturbed but still infinite, not disintegrated network of water molecules. In contrast, the models in refs 11 and 32 do not involve a network but only a distribution of clusters. 

As well, since the hydrates are clathrates, and as such, non-stoichiometric, the cage occupancies must be measured to define the system and to provide important insights into how well the various modeling parameters used to predict the structure, phase equilibria and composition actually fit experimental data Fortunately, instrumental methods that operate on a molecular scale often can be used to obtain both bulk properties as well as structural information. ... 

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