Water interactions hydrophobic

Lipid bilayers form spontaneously by a self-assembly process. In other words, the structure of a bimolecular sheet is inherent in the structure of the constituent lipid molecules. The growth of lipid bilayers from phospholipids is rapid and spontaneous in water. Hydrophobic interactions are the major driving force for the formation of lipid bilayers. Recall that hydrophobic interactions also play a dominant role in the stacking of bases in nucleic... 

If the guests are uncharged and not or only sparingly soluble in water, hydrophobic interactions are the important forces which lead to an inclusion inside the cavities of water-soluble host molecules The guest molecules then must get rid of... 

Hydrophobic side chains of phenylalanine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, and methionine are clustered in the interior of the molecule, where they are shielded from contact with water. Hydrophobic interactions are a major factor in directing the folding of the polypeptide chain of myoglobin into this compact, three-dimensional shape. 

The multiplicity of the junctions is in principle determined automatically by the equilibrium requirement for a given associative interaction. In the case of hydrophobic interaction, the chain length of a hydrophobe, the strength of water-hydrophobe interaction, the geometric form of an aggregate, and other factors determine the association constant X(T) and the junction multiplicity k. For practical treatment, we avoid complexity in finding the precise form of the coefficients yt, but instead, we introduce model junctions [26]. 

Both the structural and kinetic aspects of the protein-folding problem are complicated by the fact that folding takes place within a bath of water molecules. In fact, hydrophobic interactions are almost certainly crucial for both the relation of the sequence and the native structure, and the process by which a good sequence folds to its native structure. 

Hydrophobic effects include two distinct processes hydrophobic hydration and hydrophobic interaction. Hydrophobic hydration denotes the way in which nonpolar solutes affect the organisation of the water molecules in their immediate vicinity. The hydrophobic interaction describes the tendency of nonpolar molecules or parts thereof to stick together in aqueous media " . A related frequently encountered term is hydrophobicity . This term is essentially not correct since overall attractive interactions exist between water and compounds commonly referred to as... 

In the traditional view hydrophobic interactions are assumed to be driven by the release of water molecules from the hydrophobic hydration shells upon the approach of one nonpolar solute to another. Although the ideas about the structure of the hydrophobic hydration shell have changed, this view is essentially unaltered... 

What distinguishes water from ordinary organic solvents and justifies the term hydrophobic interaction is the molecular origin of the effect, being entropy driven in pure water at room temperature and resulting primarily from the strong water-water interactions. 

Breslow immediately grasped the significance of his observation. He interpreted this discovery in terms of a hydrophobic effect Since in the Diels-Alder reaction. .. the transition state. .. brings together two nonpolar groups, one might expect that in water this reaction could be accelerated by hydrophobic interactions ". ... 

Tire importance of hydrophobic interactions in the aqueous acceleration is further demonstrated by a qualitative study described by Jenner on the effect of pressure on Diels-Alder reactions in water and a number of organic solvents. Invariably, the reactions in water were less accelerated by pressure than those in organic solvents, which is in line with the notion that pressure diminishes hydrophobic interactions. 

In conclusion, the special influence of water on the endo-exo selectivity seems to be a result of the fact that this solvent combines in it three characteristics that all favour formation of the endo adduct (1) water is a strong hydrogen bond donor, (2) water is polar and (3) water induces hydrophobic interactions. 

Breslow studied the dimerisation of cyclopentadiene and the reaction between substituted maleimides and 9-(hydroxymethyl)anthracene in alcohol-water mixtures. He successfully correlated the rate constant with the solubility of the starting materials for each Diels-Alder reaction. From these relations he estimated the change in solvent accessible surface between initial state and activated complex " . Again, Breslow completely neglects hydrogen bonding interactions, but since he only studied alcohol-water mixtures, the enforced hydrophobic interactions will dominate the behaviour. Recently, also Diels-Alder reactions in dilute salt solutions in aqueous ethanol have been studied and minor rate increases have been observed Lubineau has demonstrated that addition of sugars can induce an extra acceleration of the aqueous Diels-Alder reaction . Also the effect of surfactants on Diels-Alder reactions has been studied. This topic will be extensively reviewed in Chapter 4. 

What is the effect of water on the rate and selectivity of the Lewis-acid catalysed Diels-Alder reaction, when compared to oiganic solvents Do hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions also influence the Lewis-acid catalysed process Answers to these questions will be provided in Chapter 2. 

Appreciating the beneficial influences of water and Lewis acids on the Diels-Alder reaction and understanding their origin, one may ask what would be the result of a combination of these two effects. If they would be additive, huge accelerations can be envisaged. But may one really expect this How does water influence the Lewis-acid catalysed reaction, and what is the influence of the Lewis acid on the enforced hydrophobic interaction and the hydrogen bonding effect These are the questions that are addressed in this chapter. 

The beneficial effect of water in the arene - arene interaction can be explained by the fact that this solvent is characterised by a low polarisability so that interactions of the aromatic rings with water are less efficient than with most organic solvents. Also the high polarity of water might lead to a polarisation of the aromatic rings, thereby enhancing electrostatic interactions. Finally, hydrophobic interactions may be expected to play a modest role. 

Throughout this thesis reference has been made to hydrophobic effects. Enforced hydrophobic interactions are an important contributor to the acceleration of uncatalysed and also of the Lewis-acid catalysed Diels-Alder reactions which are described in this thesis. Moreover, they are likely to be involved in the beneficial effect of water on the enantioselectivity of the Lewis-acid catalysed Diels-Alder reaction, as described in Chapter 3. Because arguments related to hydrophobic effects are spread over nearly all chapters, and ideas have developed simultaneously, we summarise our insights at the end of this thesis. 

Interactions between nonpolar compounds are generally stronger in water than in organic solvents. At concentrations where no aggregation or phase separation takes place, pairwise hydrophobic interactions can occur. Under these conditions, the lowest energy state for a solute molecule is the one in which it is completely surrounded by water molecules. However, occasionally, it will also meet other solute molecules, and form short-lived encounter complexes. In water, the lifetime of these complexes exceeds that in organic solvents, since the partial desolvation that accompanies the formation of these complexes is less unfavourable in water than in organic solvents. 

Pairwise hydrophobic interactions can be used to alter the reactivity of organic molecules in water. For instance, the rate of hydrolysis reactions may be influenced significantly by the presence of hydrophobic cosolutes. The effect on reactivity has been analysed by comparirg the interactions between initial state and cosolute with those between transition state and cosolute. ... 

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