Local and Global Effects of Dissolved Sodium Chloride on the Structure of Water.

Title Local and Global Effects of Dissolved Sodium Chloride on the Structure of Water.
Authors A.P. Gaiduk; G. Galli
Journal J Phys Chem Lett
DOI 10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b00239
Abstract

Determining how the structure of water is modified by the presence of salts is instrumental to understanding the solvation of biomolecules and, in general, the role played by salts in biochemical processes. However, the extent of hydrogen bonding disruption induced by salts remains controversial. We performed extensive first-principles simulations of solutions of a simple salt (NaCl) and found that, while the cation does not significantly change the structure of water beyond the first solvation shell, the anion has a further reaching effect, modifying the hydrogen-bond network even outside its second solvation shell. We found that a distinctive fingerprint of hydrogen bonding modification is the change in polarizability of water molecules. Molecular dipole moments are instead insensitive probes of long-range modifications induced by Na(+) and Cl(-) ions. Though noticeable, the long-range effect of Cl(-) is expected to be too weak to affect solubility of large biomolecules.

Citation A.P. Gaiduk; G. Galli.Local and Global Effects of Dissolved Sodium Chloride on the Structure of Water.. J Phys Chem Lett. 2017;8(7):14961502. doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b00239

Related Elements

Chlorine

Chlorine is a Block P, Group 17, Period 3 element. Its electron configuration is [Ne]3s23p5. The chlorine atom has a covalent radius of 102±4 pm and its Van der Waals radius is 175 pm. Chlorine ModelIn its elemental form, chlorine is a yellow-green gas. Chlorine is the second lightest halogen after fluorine. It has the third highest electronegativity and the highest electron affinity of all elements, making it a strong oxidizing agent. It is rarely found by itself in nature. Chlorine was discovered and first isolated by Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1774. It was first recognized as an element by Humphry Davy in 1808.

Sodium

Sodium Bohr ModelSee more Sodium products. Sodium (atomic symbol: Na, atomic number: 11) is a Block D, Group 5, Period 4 element with an atomic weight of 22.989769. The number of electrons in each of Sodium's shells is [2, 8, 1] and its electron configuration is [Ne] 3s1. The sodium atom has a radius of 185.8 pm and a Van der Waals radius of 227 pm. Sodium was discovered and first isolated by Sir Humphrey Davy in 1807. In its elemental form, sodium has a silvery-white metallic appearance. It is the sixth most abundant element, making up 2.6 % of the earth's crust. Sodium does not occur in nature as a free element and must be extracted from its compounds (e.g., feldspars, sodalite, and rock salt). The name Sodium is thought to come from the Arabic word suda, meaning "headache" (due to sodium carbonate's headache-alleviating properties), and its elemental symbol Na comes from natrium, its Latin name.

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