Infrared study of water in benzene at high temperatures and pressure

Different aggregation dynamics of benzene–water mixtures

The differences between the molecular aggregations in benzene–water mixtures are identified using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations.

Effect of Double Bonds in the Formation of Sodium Dodecanoate and Sodium 10-Undecenoate Mixed Micelles in Water

The micellization of an aqueous mixture of sodium dodecanoate (SDD) and sodium 10-undecenoate (SUD) was studied with the theory of mixed micellization. A strong nonideality was found, with a preferential composition of mixed micelles. This phenomenon was interpreted on the basis of the interaction between the vinyl group and water by hydrogen bonding. The importance of the aliphatic pi electrons and water was stated.

Structure of Hydrophobic Hydration of Benzene and Hexafluorobenzene from First Principles

We report on the aqueous hydration of benzene and hexafluorobenzene, as obtained by carrying out extensive (>100 ps) first principles molecular dynamics simulations. Our results show that benzene and hexafluorobenzene do not behave as ordinary hydrophobic solutes, but rather present two distinct regions, one equatorial and the other axial, that exhibit different solvation properties. While in both cases the equatorial regions behave as typical hydrophobic solutes, the solvation properties of the axial regions depend strongly on the nature of the pi-water interaction. In particular, pi-hydrogen and pi-lone pair interactions are found to dominate in benzene and hexafluorobenzene, respectively, which leads to substantially different orientations of water near the two solutes. We present atomic and electronic structure results (in terms of Maximally Localized Wannier Functions) providing a microscopic description of benzene- and hexafluorobenzene-water interfaces, as well as a comparative study of the two solutes. Our results point at the importance of an accurate description of interfacial water to characterize hydration properties of apolar molecules, as these are strongly influenced by subtle charge rearrangements and dipole moment redistributions in interfacial regions.

Dynamical and structural properties of benzene in supercritical water

We have employed an anisotropic united atom model of benzene (R. O. Contreras, Ph.D. thesis, Universitat Rovira i Virgili 2002) that reproduces the quadrupolar moment of this molecule through the inclusion of seven point charges. We show that this kind of interaction is required to reproduce the solvation of these molecules in supercritical water. We have computed self-diffusion coefficient and Maxwell-Stefan coefficients as well as the shear viscosity for the mixture water-benzene at supercritical conditions. A strong density and composition dependence of these properties is observed. In addition, our simulations are in qualitative agreement with the experimental evidence that, at medium densities (0.6 g/cm(3) and 673 K), almost half of the benzene molecules have one hydrogen bond with water molecules. We also observe that these bonds are longer lived than the corresponding hydrogen bonds between water molecules. Similarly, we obtain an important reduction of the dielectric constant of the mixture with the increment of the amount of benzene molecules at medium and high densities.

Computer Simulation Investigation of the Water−Benzene Interface in a Broad Range of Thermodynamic States from Ambient to Supercritical Conditions

The dependence of the properties of the water-benzene system on the thermodynamic conditions in a broad range of temperatures and pressures has been investigated by computer simulation methods. For this purpose, Monte Carlo simulations have been performed at 23 different thermodynamic states, ranging from ambient to supercritical conditions. The density profiles of the water and benzene molecules have been determined at each of the thermodynamic states investigated. Information on the dependence of the mutual solubility of the two components in each other as well as of the width of the interface on the temperature and pressure has been extracted from these profiles. The width of the interface has been found to increase with increasing temperature up to a certain point, where it diverges. The temperature of this divergence corresponds to the mixing of the two phases. The determination of the critical mixing temperature at various pressures allowed us to estimate the upper critical curve, separating the two-phase and one-phase liquid systems, of the phase diagram of the simulated water-benzene system. In analyzing the preferential orientation of the interfacial molecules relative to the interface, it has been found that the main orientational preference of the benzene molecules is to lie parallel with the plane of the interface, and the water molecules penetrated deepest into the benzene phase prefer to stay perpendicular to the interface, pointing by one of their O-H bonds almost straight toward the benzene phase, whereas the waters located at the aqueous side of the interface are preferentially aligned parallel with the interfacial plane. Although the strength of the observed orientational preferences decreases rapidly with increasing temperature, the preferred orientations themselves are found to be independent of the thermodynamic conditions. Remains of the orientational preferences of the molecules are found to be present up to temperatures as high as 650 K. The analysis of the relative orientation of the neighboring water-benzene pairs has revealed that the radius of the first hydration shell of the benzene molecules is independent of the thermodynamic conditions, even if the system consists of one single phase. It has been found that the nearest water neighbors of the benzene molecules are preferentially located above and below the benzene ring, whereas more distant water neighbors, belonging still to the first hydration shell, prefer to stay within the plane of the benzene molecule. In the two-phase systems the dipole vector of the nearest waters has been found to be preferentially perpendicular to the vector pointing from the center of the benzene molecule to the water O atom.

Spectroscopic study of mutual solubilities of water and benzene at high temperatures and pressures

Near-infrared and ultraviolet absorption of water-benzene mixtures has been measured at temperatures and pressures in the ranges of 323-673 K and 50-400 bar, respectively. Concentrations of water and benzene in both the water-rich phase and the benzene-rich phase of the mixtures were obtained from absorption intensities of near-infrared bands of water and benzene and ultraviolet bands of benzene. Mutual solubilities in molar fractions increase remarkably with increasing temperature at pressures in the two-liquid-phase coexistence region, and are consistent with previously reported values. It proves that the solubility of benzene in water is an order of magnitude smaller than that of water in benzene throughout the two-phase region. In addition, it is found that effect of pressure on the solubilities is opposite between water in benzene and benzene in water. These solubility properties are discussed on the basis of a cavity-based solvation model. It is suggested that the asymmetry in the mutual solubility and the opposite direction of the pressure effect are caused by difference in molecular size and difference in thermal compressibility, respectively, between water and benzene.