Matthew T. Parsons

A Thermodynamic Study of 1-Propanol–Glycerol–H2O at 25°C: Effect of Glycerol on Molecular Organization of H2O

The excess chemical potential, partial molar enthalpy, and volume of 1-propanol were determined in ternary mixtures of 1-propanol–glycerol–H2O at 25°C. The mole fraction dependence of all these thermodynamic functions was used to elucidate the effect of glycerol on the molecular organization of H2O. The glycerol molecules do not exert a hydrophobic effect on H2O. Rather, the hydroxyl groups of glycerol, perhaps by forming clusters via its alkyl backbone with hydroxyl groups pointing outward, interact with H2O so as to reduce the characteristics of liquid H2O. The global hydrogen bond probability and, hence, the percolation nature of the hydrogen bond network is reduced. In addition, the degree of fluctuation inherent in liquid H2O is reduced by glycerol perhaps by participating in the hydrogen bond network via OH groups. At infinite dilution, the pair interaction coefficients in enthalpy were evaluated and these data suggest a possibility that the interaction is mediated through H2O.

Hydration number of glycine in aqueous solution: an experimental estimate.

An experimental estimate of hydration number, N(H), of glycine in aqueous solution is given by using the calorimetric methodology developed by us earlier, which is briefly reviewed. We found NH to be 7+/-0.6 for glycine presumably in the zwitter ion form, 10+/-1 for sodium glycinate, and 5+/-0.4 for glycine hydrochloride. Both glycine and sodium glycinate seem to work purely as a hydration center without altering the nature of the bulk H2O away from the hydration shell. Glycine hydrochloride, in addition to the role of hydration center, seems also to act as a typical hydrophilic species such as polyols, urea, or polyethylene glycols. Hence, the effect of the latter on H2O is of a long range, like other hydrophilic species.

Excess Chemical Potentials and Partial Molar Enthalpies in Aqueous 1,2- and 1,3-Propanediols at 25°C

Excess chemical potentials and excess partial molar enthalpies of 1,2- and 1,3-propanediols (abbreviated as 12P and 13P), μEi, and HEi (i = 12P or 13P) were determined in the respective binary aqueous solutions at 25°C. For both systems, the values of μEi are almost zero, within ±0.4 kJ-mol−1. However, the excess partial molar enthalpies, HEi show a sharp mole fraction dependence in the water-rich region. Thus, the systems are highly nonideal, in spite of almost zero μEi. Namely, the enthalpy-entropy compensation is almost complete. From the slopes of the HEi against the respective mole fraction xi we obtain the enthalpic interaction functions between solutes, Hi−iE, (i = 12P or 13P). Using these quantities and comparing them with the equivalent quantities for binary aqueous solutions of 1-propanol (1P), 2-propanol (2P), glycerol (Gly), and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), we conclude that there are three composition regions in each of which mixing schemes are qualitatively different. Mixing Schemes II and III, operative in the intermediate and the solute-rich regions, seem similar in all the binary aqueous solutions mentioned above. Mixing Scheme I in the water-rich region is different from solute to solute. 12P shows a behavior similar to that of DMSO, which is somewhat different from typical hydrophobic solute, 1P or 2P. 13P, on the other hand, is less hydrophobic than 12P, and shows a behavior closer to glycerol, which shows hydrophilic behavior.