The hydrophobic effect

Abstract

Computer simulation and theoretical studies have improved significantly our understanding of the connection between the structural organization of water surrounding hydrophobic solutes and anomalous thermodynamic behavior associated with the ‘hydrophobic effect’. Recent studies have yielded the quantitative temperature dependence of hydrophobic interactions and the dependence of hydration free energy on solute size and shape. The success of new proximity approximations, which assume that water organization is only locally sensitive to solute structure, has encouraged the study of the hydration of complex hydrophobic solutes.