Quasi-chemical theory

The appellation quasi-chemical is acquired from Guggenheim (Guggenheim, 1935 1938). This is because central equations of the theory have a structure that is familiar from chemical considerations this is true of the developments below 

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C. The Quasi-Chemical Theory Applied to Dilute Solutions. 137... 

Because much experimental work has been stimulated by the quasi-chemical theory, it is important to gain proper perspective by first describing the features of this theory.12 The term, quasichemical will be used to include the Bragg-Williams approximation as the zeroth-order theory, the Bethe or Guggenheim pair-distribution approximations as the first-order theory, and the subsequent elaborations by Yang,69 Li,28 or McGlashan31 as theories of higher order. 

The simplest form of the quasi-chemical theory that is of interest in the present connection is the first-order approximation, which considers the distribution of nearest-neighbor pairs as affected by nonzero values of the linear combination,... 

TABLE I.a Comparison of Observed Activity Coefficients of Cu and Au with Values Calculated from Observed Short-Range Order Parameters by the First-Order Quasi-Chemical Theory... 

A dependence of w upon composition must also be adduced in the case of the Fe-Ni solid solutions. Over the range from 0 to 56 at. per cent Ni, these solid solutions exhibit essentially ideal behavior,39 so that w 0. Since the FeNi3 superlattice appears at lower temperatures, either w is markedly different at compositions about 75 at. per cent Ni than at lower Ni contents, or w 0 for the solid solutions about the superlattice. Either possibility represents a deviation from the requirements of the quasi-chemical theories. 

Other ordering systems show striking discrepancies with the predictions of the quasi-chemical theories. Cu-Pt,67 Co-Pt,38 and Pb-Tl36 are binaries the solid solutions of which exhibit a positive partial excess free energy for one of their components, as well as positive excess entropies of solution. Co-Pt goes even further in deviating from theory in that it has a positive enthalpy of solution,... 

TABLE II. Comparison Between Experimental EJRTC with the Value Given by the Yang-Li Quasi-Chemical Theory for Cu-Au Superlattices. Interaction Parameter, w, Calculated from Tc and the Yang-Li Theory... 

Table II also demonstrates the discrepancy existing between E0/RTe calculated by the Yang-Li quasi-chemical theory and the experimental ratio. E0 is the energy difference between a fully ordered superlattice and the corresponding solid solution with an ideally random atom species distribution. It is a quantity that can only be estimated from existing experimental information, but the disparity between theory and experiment is beyond question.

It is simplest to consider these factors as they are reflected in the entropy of the solution, because it is easy to subtract from the measured entropy of solution the configurational contribution. For the latter, one may use the ideal entropy of mixing, — In, since the correction arising from usual deviation of a solution (not a superlattice) from randomness is usually less than — 0.1 cal/deg-g atom. (In special cases, where the degree of short-range order is known from x-ray diffuse scattering, one may adequately calculate this correction from quasi-chemical theory.) Consequently, the excess entropy of solution, AS6, is a convenient measure of the sum of the nonconfigurational factors in the solution. 

By a statistical model of a solution we mean a model which does not attempt to describe explicitly the nature of the interaction between solvent and solute species, but simply assumes some general characteristic for the interaction, and presents expressions for the thermodynamic functions of the solution in terms of an assumed interaction parameter. The quasi-chemical theory is of this type, and we have noted that a serious deficiency is its failure to consider the vibrational effects in the solution. It is of interest, therefore, to consider briefly the average-potential model which does include the effect of vibrations. 

It is difficult to point to the basic reason why the average-potential model is not better applicable to metallic solutions. Shimoji60 believes that a Lennard-Jones 6-12 potential is not adequate for metals and that a Morse potential would give better results when incorporated in the same kind of model. On the other hand, it is possible that the main trouble is that metal solutions do not obey a theorem of corresponding states. More specifically, the interaction eAB(r) may not be expressible by the same function as for the pure components because the solute is so strongly modified by the solvent. This point of view is supported by considerations of the electronic models of metal solutions.46 The idea that the solvent strongly modifies the solute metal is reached also through a consideration of the quasi-chemical theory applied to dilute solutions. This is the topic that we consider next. 

We see that the shortcomings of the quasi-chemical theory for dilute solutions also lead to the idea that the interaction between two atoms in solution may be very different from the interaction between the same atoms in the pure state. This is a point of view that can be reached from a consideration of the screening11 by localized or by conduction-band electrons that must occur about... 

Whereas the quasi-chemical theory has been eminently successful in describing the broad outlines, and even some of the details, of the order-disorder phenomenon in metallic solid solutions, several of its assumptions have been shown to be invalid. The manner of its failure, as well as the failure of the average-potential model to describe metallic solutions, indicates that metal atom interactions change radically in going from the pure state to the solution state. It is clear that little further progress may be expected in the formulation of statistical models for metallic solutions until the electronic interactions between solute and solvent species are better understood. In the area of solvent-solute interactions, the elastic model is unfruitful. Better understanding also is needed of the vibrational characteristics of metallic solutions, with respect to the changes in harmonic force constants and those in the anharmonicity of the vibrations. 

Quadrupole, effects, 25 moment, 188 resonance absorption, 190 Quasi-chemical theory, 122, 123, 128, 137... 

We present a molecular theory of hydration that now makes possible a unification of these diverse views of the role of water in protein stabilization. The central element in our development is the potential distribution theorem. We discuss both its physical basis and statistical thermodynamic framework with applications to protein solution thermodynamics and protein folding in mind. To this end, we also derive an extension of the potential distribution theorem, the quasi-chemical theory, and propose its implementation to the hydration of folded and unfolded proteins. Our perspective and current optimism are justified by the understanding we have gained from successful applications of the potential distribution theorem to the hydration of simple solutes. A few examples are given to illustrate this point. 

This expression separates solute-solvent interactions into an outer shell contribution, which we submit can be described using simple physical approximations, and an inner shell contribution, which we treat using quasi-chemical theory. 

Pratt, L. R., and Rempe, S. B. (1999). Quasi-chemical theory and implicit solvent models for simulations. In Simulation and Theory of Electrostatic Interactions in Solution. Computational Chemistry, Biophysics, and Aqueous Solutions (L. R. Pratt and G. Hummer, eds.), vol. 492 of AIP Conference Proceedings, pp. 172-201. American Institute of Physics, Melville, NY... 

Pratt, L. R. LaViolette, R. A. Gomez, M. A. Gentile, M. E., Quasi-chemical theory for the statistical thermodynamics of the hard-sphere fluid, J. Phys. Chem. B 2001,105, 11662-11668... 

Asthagiri, D. Pratt, L. R. Ashbaugh, H. S., Absolute hydration free energies of ions, ion-water clusters, and quasi-chemical theory, J. Chem. Phys. 2003,119, 2702-2708... 

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