Cavitation energies can outperform dispersion interactions

He S, Biedermann F, Vankova N, Zhechkov L, Heine T, Hoffman RE, De Simone A, Duignan TT, Nau WM (2018)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2018

Journal

Nature Chemistry Nature Publishing Group

Book Volume: 10

Pages Range: 1252-1257

Journal Issue: 12

DOI: 10.1038/s41557-018-0146-0

Abstract

The accurate dissection of binding energies into their microscopic components is challenging, especially in solution. Here we study the binding of noble gases (He–Xe) with the macrocyclic receptor cucurbit[5]uril in water by displacement of methane and ethane as 1 H NMR probes. We dissect the hydration free energies of the noble gases into an attractive dispersive component and a repulsive one for formation of a cavity in water. This allows us to identify the contributions to host–guest binding and to conclude that the binding process is driven by differential cavitation energies rather than dispersion interactions. The free energy required to create a cavity to accept the noble gas inside the cucurbit[5]uril is much lower than that to create a similarly sized cavity in bulk water. The recovery of the latter cavitation energy drives the overall process, which has implications for the refinement of gas-storage materials and the understanding of biological receptors.

Involved external institutions

Jacobs University Bremen gGmbH DE Germany (DE) Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) DE Germany (DE) Hebrew University of Jerusalem IL Israel (IL) Imperial College London / The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine GB United Kingdom (GB) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory US United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

He, S., Biedermann, F., Vankova, N., Zhechkov, L., Heine, T., Hoffman, R.E.,... Nau, W.M. (2018). Cavitation energies can outperform dispersion interactions. Nature Chemistry, 10(12), 1252-1257. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-018-0146-0

MLA:

He, Suhang, et al. "Cavitation energies can outperform dispersion interactions." Nature Chemistry 10.12 (2018): 1252-1257.

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