The Relevance of Cavity Creation for Several Phenomena Occurring in Water

Abstract

The solvent-excluded volume effect is an under-appreciated general phenomenon occurring in liquids and playing a fundamental role in many cases. It is quantified and characterized by means of the theoretical concept of cavity creation and its Gibbs free energy cost. The magnitude of the reversible work of cavity creation proves to be particularly large in water, and this fact plays a key role for, among other things, the poor solubility of nonpolar species, the formation of host–guest complexes, and the folding of globular proteins. An analysis of some examples is provided in the present review.

Keywords

• cavity creation
• solvent-excluded volume effect
• hydration of noble gases
• host–guest complexes
• folding of globular proteins