Persistent Ion Pairing in Aqueous Hydrochloric Acid

Acidifying the Madrid-2019 force field: A rigid model for H3O+ with scaled charges

A classical and rigid force field for the oxonium cation, H3O+, optimized in solutions of TIP4P/2005 water, is introduced. While the charges of both H3O+ and the selected counteranions (i.e., Cl-, Br-, I-, and NO3-) are scaled by a factor of 0.85, following the philosophy of the so-called Madrid-2019 model for ions, the charge distribution of H3O+ was derived within the framework of the self-consistent atomic dipole-corrected Hirshfeld approach. Considering the simplicity of the model, the agreement between experimental data and molecular dynamics simulation results for the curvature of the solution density as a function of the solute concentration is remarkable. However, limitations persist in capturing ion-pairing behavior and long-range hydrogen-bonding dynamics in polyatomic systems. We found that a scaled charge of 0.85e provides an accurate description of the local structure of hydrogen halides but is detrimental to predicting the viscosity of the solution. The opposite effect is observed for HNO3. Nonetheless, the newly optimized potential parameters for H3O+ expand the family of ions with scaled charges in the Madrid-2019 force field, providing a computationally efficient and versatile platform to study electrolyte solutions in acidic environments. These findings contribute to the advancement of molecular modeling techniques and to improving our understanding of the interplay between local structure (solvation, ion pairing) and transport properties in complex systems.

Propensity of hydroxide and hydronium ions for the air-water and graphene-water interfaces from ab initio and force field simulations

Understanding acids and bases at interfaces is relevant for a range of applications from environmental chemistry to energy storage. We present combined ab initio and force-field molecular dynamics simulations of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide highly concentrated electrolytes at the interface with air and graphene. In agreement with surface tension measurements at the air-water interface, we find that HCl presents an ionic surface excess, while NaOH displays an ionic surface depletion, for both interfaces. We further show that graphene becomes less hydrophilic as the water ions concentration increases, with a transition to being hydrophobic for highly basic solutions. For HCl, we observe that hydronium adsorbs to both interfaces and orients strongly toward the water phase, due to the hydrogen bonding behavior of hydronium ions, which donate three hydrogen bonds to bulk water molecules when adsorbed at the interface. For NaOH, we observe density peaks of strongly oriented hydroxide ions at the interface with air and graphene. To extrapolate our results from concentrated electrolytes to dilute solutions, we perform single ion-pair ab initio simulations, as well as develop force-field parameters for ions and graphene that reproduce the density profiles at high concentrations. We find the behavior of hydronium ions to be rather independent of concentration. For NaOH electrolytes, the force-field simulations of dilute NaOH solutions suggest no hydroxide adsorption but some adsorption at high concentrations. For both interfaces, we predict that the surface potential is positive for HCl and close to neutral for NaOH.

Fast Structural Dynamics in Concentrated HCl Solutions: From Proton Hopping to the Bulk Viscosity

Concentrated acid solutions, particularly HCl, have been studied extensively to examine the proton hopping and infrared spectral signatures of hydronium ions. Much less attention has been given to the structural dynamics of concentrated HCl solutions. Here, we apply optical heterodyne detected-optical Kerr effect (OHD-OKE) measurements to examine HCl concentration-dependent dynamics from moderate (0.8 m) to very high (15.5 m) concentrations and compare the results to the dynamics of NaCl solutions, as Na+ is similar in size to the hydronium cation. Both HCl and NaCl OHD-OKE signals decay as triexponentials at all concentrations, in contrast to pure water, which decays as a biexponential. Two remarkable features of the HCl dynamics are the following: (1) the bulk viscosity is linearly related to the slowest decay constant, t3, and (2) the concentration-dependent proton hopping times, determined by ab initio MD simulations and 2D IR chemical exchange experiments, both obtained from the literature, fall on the same line as the slowest structural dynamics relaxation time, t3, within experimental error. The structural dynamics of hydronium/chloride/water clusters, with relaxation times t3, are responsible for the concentration dependence of microscopic property of proton hopping and the macroscopic bulk viscosity. The slowest time constant (t3), which does not have a counterpart in pure water, is 3 ps at 0.8 m and increases by a factor of ∼2 by 15.5 m. The two fastest HCl decay constants, t1 and t2, are similar to those of pure water and increase mildly with the concentration.

Solvent Dynamics of Aqueous Halides before and after Photoionization

Electron transfer reactions can be strongly influenced by solvent dynamics. We study the photoionization of halides in water as a model system for such reactions. There are no internal nuclear degrees of freedom in the solute, allowing the dynamics of the solvent to be uniquely identified. We simulate the equilibrium solvent dynamics for Cl^-, Br^-, I^-, and their respective neutral atoms in water, comparing quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) and classical molecular dynamics (MD) methods. On the basis of the obtained configurations, we calculate the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra rigorously based on the MD snapshots and compare them in detail with other theoretical and experimental results available in the literature. We find our EXAFS spectra based on QM/MM MD simulations in good agreement with their experimental counterparts for the ions. Classical MD simulations for the ions lead to EXAFS spectra that agree equally well with the experiment when it comes to the oscillatory period of the signal, even though they differ from the QM/MM radial distribution functions extracted from the MD. The amplitude is, however, considerably overestimated. This suggests that to judge the reliability of theoretical simulation methods or to elucidate fine details of the atomistic dynamics of the solvent based on EXAFS spectra, the amplitude as well as the oscillatory period need to be considered. If simulations fail qualitatively, as does the classical MD for the aqueous neutral halogen atoms, the resulting EXAFS will also be strongly affected in both oscillatory period and amplitude. The good reliability of QM/MM-based EXAFS simulations, together with clear qualitative differences in the EXAFS spectra found between halides and their atomic counterparts, suggests that a combined theory and experimental EXAFS approach is suitable for elucidating the nonequilibrium solvent dynamics in the photoionization of halides and possibly also for electron transfer reactions in more complex systems.

Ionization Difference between Weak and Strong Electrolytes as Perturbed by Conductivity Spectra Analysis

While the static structure of aqueous electrolytes has been studied for decades, their dynamic microscopic structure remains unresolved yet critical in many areas. We report a comparative study of dc and ac (1 Hz to 20 GHz) conductivity data of weak and strong electrolytes, highlighting previously missing differences and similarities. Based on these results, we introduce into consideration the intrinsic short-lived ions of water, namely, excess protons (H₃O⁺) and proton holes (OH^-). We show that the model accounting for the neutralization of these ions by the species of electrolyte explains the conductivity of aqueous solutions in the concentration range 10^-7-10 M. Based on independent experimental data, we hypothesize that the aggregation of the species in weak electrolytes may determine the main difference between the conductivity of weak and strong electrolytes. Our results push forward the understanding of the dynamic structure of aqueous electrolyte solutions and are important to nanofluidic, biological, and electrochemical systems.

Water Defect Stabilizes the Bi3+ Lone-Pair Electronic State Leading to an Unusual Aqueous Hydration Structure

The aqueous hydration structure of the Bi³⁺ ion is probed using a combination of extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) simulations of ion-water clusters and condensed-phase solutions. Anomalous features in the EXAFS spectra are found to be associated with a highly asymmetric first-solvent water shell. The aqueous chemistry and structure of the Bi³⁺ ion are dramatically controlled by the water stabilization of a lone-pair electronic state involving the mixed 6s and 6p orbitals. This leads to a distinct multimodal distribution of water molecules in the first shell that are separated by about 0.2 Å. The lone-pair structure is stabilized by a collective response of multiple waters that are localized near the lone-pair anti-bonding site. The findings indicate that the lone-pair stereochemistry of aqueous Bi³⁺ ions plays a major role in the binding of water and ligands in aqueous solutions.

Spectral signatures of excess-proton waiting and transfer-path dynamics in aqueous hydrochloric acid solutions

The theoretical basis for linking spectral signatures of hydrated excess protons with microscopic proton-transfer mechanisms has so far relied on normal-mode analysis. We introduce trajectory-decomposition techniques to analyze the excess-proton dynamics in ab initio molecular-dynamics simulations of aqueous hydrochloric-acid solutions beyond the normal-mode scenario. We show that the actual proton transfer between two water molecules involves for relatively large water-water separations crossing of a free-energy barrier and thus is not a normal mode, rather it is characterized by two non-vibrational time scales: Firstly, the broadly distributed waiting time for transfer to occur with a mean value of 200-300 fs, which leads to a broad and weak shoulder in the absorption spectrum around 100 cm-1, consistent with our experimental THz spectra. Secondly, the mean duration of a transfer event of about 14 fs, which produces a rather well-defined spectral contribution around 1200 cm-1 and agrees in location and width with previous experimental mid-infrared spectra.

Ion adsorption stabilizes bulk nanobubbles

The mechanism leading to the extraordinary stability of bulk nanobubbles in aqueous solutions remains an outstanding problem in soft matter, modern surface science, and physical chemistry science. In this work, the stability of bulk nanobubbles in electrolyte solutions under different pH levels and ionic strengths is studied. Nanobubbles are generated via the technique of ultrasonic cavitation, and characterized for size, number concentration and zeta potential under ambient conditions. Experimental results show that nanobubbles can survive in both acidic and basic solutions with pH values far away from the isoelectric point. We attribute the enhanced stability with increasing acidity or alkalinity of the aqueous solutions to the effective accumulation of net charges, regardless of their sign. The kinetic stability of the nanobubbles in various aqueous solutions is evaluated within the classic DLVO framework. Further, by combining a modified Poisson-Boltzmann equation with a modified Langmuir adsorption model, we describe a simple model that captures the influence of ion species and bulk concentration and reproduce the dependence of the nanobubble's surface potential on pH. We also discuss the apparent contradiction between quantitative calculation by ion stabilization model and experimental results. This essentially requires insight into the structure and dynamics of interfacial water on the atomic-scale.

Dynamics of Ion Pairing in Dilute Aqueous HCl Solutions by Spectroscopic Measurements of Hydroxyl Radical Conversion into Dichloride Radical Anions

The rate of formation of dichloride anions (Cl₂^•–) in dilute aqueous solutions of HCl (2–100 mmol·kg^–1) was measured by the technique of pulse radiolysis over the temperature range of 288–373 K. The obtained Arrhenius dependence shows a concentration averaged activation energy of 7.3 ± 1.8 kJ·mol^–1, being half of that expected from the mechanism assuming the ^•OHCl^– intermediate and supporting the ionic equilibrium-based mechanism, i.e., the formation of Cl₂^•– in the reaction of ^•OH with a hydronium–chloride (Cl^–·H₃O⁺) contact ion pair. Assuming diffusion-controlled encounter of the hydronium and chloride ions and including the effect of the ionic atmosphere, we showed that the reciprocal of τ, the lifetime of (Cl^–·H₃O⁺), follows an Arrhenius dependence with an activation energy of 23 ± 4 kJ·mol^–1, independent of the acid concentration. This result indicates that the contact pair is stabilized by hydrogen bonding interaction of the solvent molecules. We also found that at a fixed temperature, τ is noticeably increased in less-concentrated solutions (m_HCl < 0.01 m). Since this concentration effect is particularly pronounced at near ambient temperatures, the increasing pair lifetime may result from the solvent cage effect enhanced by the presence of large supramolecular structures (patches) formed by continuously connected four-bonded water molecules.

Toward a First-Principles Framework for Predicting Collective Properties of Electrolytes

Given the universal importance of electrolyte solutions, it is natural to expect that we have a nearly complete understanding of the fundamental properties of these solutions (e.g., the chemical potential) and that we can therefore explain, predict, and control the phenomena occurring in them. In fact, reality falls short of these expectations. But, recent advances in the simulation and modeling of electrolyte solutions indicate that it should soon be possible to make progress toward these goals. In this Account, we will discuss the use of first-principles interaction potentials based in quantum mechanics (QM) to enhance our understanding of electrolyte solutions. Specifically, we will focus on the use of quantum density functional theory (DFT) combined with molecular dynamics simulation (DFT-MD) as the foundation for our approach. The overarching concept is to understand and accurately reproduce the balance between local or short-ranged (SR) structural details and long-range (LR) correlations, allowing the prediction of the thermodynamics of both single ions in solution as well as the collective interactions characterized by activity/osmotic coefficients. In doing so, relevant collective motions and driving forces characterized by chemical potentials can be determined.In this Account, we will make the case that understanding electrolyte solutions requires a faithful QM representation of the SR nature of the ion-ion, ion-water, and water-water interactions. However, the number of molecules that is required for collective behavior makes the direct application of high-level QM methods that contain the best SR physics untenable, making methods that balance accuracy and efficiency a practical goal. Alternatives such as continuum solvent models (CSMs) and empirically based classical molecular dynamics have been extensively employed to resolve this problem but without yet overcoming the fundamental issue of SR accuracy. We will demonstrate that accurately describing the SR interaction is imperative for predicting both intrinsic properties, namely, at infinite dilution, and collective properties of electrolyte solutions.DFT has played an important role in our understanding of condensed phase systems, e.g., bulk liquid water, the air-water interface, ions in bulk, and at the air-water interface. This approach holds huge promise to provide benchmark calculations of electrolyte solution properties that will allow for the development and improvement of more efficient methods, as well as an enhanced understanding of fundamental phenomena. However, the standard protocol using the generalized gradient approximation with van der Waals (vdW) correction requires improvement in order to achieve a high level of quantitative accuracy. Simply simulating with higher level DFT functionals may not be the best route considering the significant computational cost. Alternative methods of incorporating information from higher levels of QM should be explored; e.g., using force matching techniques on small clusters, where high level benchmark calculations are possible, to develop ideal correction terms to the DFT functional is a promising possibility. We argue that DFT with statistical mechanics is becoming an increasingly useful framework enabling the prediction of collective electrolyte properties.

Molecular Origins of the Barriers to Proton Transport in Acidic Aqueous Solutions

The self-consistent iterative multistate empirical valence bond (SCI-MS-EVB) method is used to analyze the structure, thermodynamics, and dynamics of hydrochloric acid solutions. The reorientation time scales of irreversible proton transport are elucidated by simulating 0.43, 0.85, 1.68, and 3.26 M HCl solutions at 270, 285, 300, 315, and 330 K. The results indicate increased counterion pairing with increasing concentration, which manifests itself via a reduced hydronium oxygen-chloride (O*-Cl) structuring in the radial distribution functions. Increasing ionic concentration also reduces the diffusion of the hydrated excess protons, principally by reducing the contribution of the Grotthuss proton hopping (shuttling) mechanism to the overall diffusion process. In agreement with prior experimental findings, a decrease in the activation energy of reorientation time scales was also observed, which is explicitly explained by using activated rate theory and an energy-entropy decomposition of the state-averaged radial distribution functions. These results provide atomistic verification of suggestions from recent two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy experiments that chloride anions (as opposed to hydrated excess protons) create entropic barriers to proton transport.

Nature of Excess Hydrated Proton at the Water-Air Interface

Understanding the interfacial molecular structure of acidic aqueous solutions is important in the context of, e.g., atmospheric chemistry, biophysics, and electrochemistry. The hydration of the interfacial proton is necessarily different from that in the bulk, given the lower effective density of water at the interface, but has not yet been elucidated. Here, using surface-specific vibrational spectroscopy, we probe the response of interfacial protons at the water-air interface and reveal the interfacial proton continuum. Combined with spectral calculations based on ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, the proton at the water-air interface is shown to be well-hydrated, despite the limited availability of hydration water, with both Eigen and Zundel structures coexisting at the interface. Notwithstanding the interfacial hydrated proton exhibiting bulk-like structures, a substantial interfacial stabilization by -1.3 ± 0.2 kcal/mol is observed experimentally, in good agreement with our free energy calculations. The surface propensity of the proton can be attributed to the interaction between the hydrated proton and its counterion.

Charge Regulation of Colloidal Particles: Theory and Simulations

To explore charge regulation (CR) in physicochemical and biophysical systems, we present a model of colloidal particles with sticky adsorption sites which account for the formation of covalent bonds between the hydronium ions and the surface functional groups. Using this model and Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the standard Ninham and Parsegian (NP) theory of CR leads to results which deviate significantly from computer simulations. The problem with the NP approach is traced back to the use of a bulk equilibrium constant to account for surface chemical reactions. To resolve this difficulty we present a new theory of CR. The fundamental ingredient of the new approach is the sticky length, which is nontrivially related to the bulk equilibrium constant. The theory is found to be in excellent agreement with computer simulations, without any adjustable parameters. As an application of the theory we calculate the effective charge of colloidal particles containing carboxyl groups, as a function of pH and salt concentration.

Ion Pairing in HCl-Water Clusters: From Electronic Structure Investigations to Multiconfigurational Force-Field Development

In the bulk, condensed-phase HCl exists as a dissociated Cl^- ion and a proton that is delocalized over solvating water molecules. However, in the gas phase, HCl is covalent, and even on the introduction of hydrating water molecules, the HCl covalent state dominates small clusters and is relevant at larger clusters including 21 water molecules. Electronic structure calculations (at the MP2 level) and ab initio metadynamics simulations (at the DFT level) have been carried out on HCl-(H₂O)_n clusters with n = 2-22 to investigate distinct solvation environments in clusters from covalent HCl structure, to contact ion pairs and solvent-separated ion pairs. The data were further used to train and validate a multiconfigurational force-field for HCl-water clusters that incorporates covalent HCl states into the MS-EVB3.2 formalism. Additionally, the many-body interaction of the Cl^- ion with water and the excess proton was modeled by the introduction of two geometric three-body terms that incorporates the dominant many-body interaction in an efficient noniterative manner.

Tracking Aqueous Proton Transfer by Two-Dimensional Infrared Spectroscopy and ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Proton transfer in water is ubiquitous and a critical elementary event that, via proton hopping between water molecules, enables protons to diffuse much faster than other ions. The problem of the anomalous nature of proton transport in water was first identified by Grotthuss over 200 years ago. In spite of a vast amount of modern research effort, there are still many unanswered questions about proton transport in water. An experimental determination of the proton hopping time has remained elusive due to its ultrafast nature and the lack of direct experimental observables. Here, we use two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy to extract the chemical exchange rates between hydronium and water in acid solutions using a vibrational probe, methyl thiocyanate. Ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations demonstrate that the chemical exchange is dominated by proton hopping. The observed experimental and simulated acid concentration dependence then allow us to extrapolate the measured single step proton hopping time to the dilute limit, which, within error, gives the same value as inferred from measurements of the proton mobility and NMR line width analysis. In addition to obtaining the proton hopping time in the dilute limit from direct measurements and AIMD simulations, the results indicate that proton hopping in dilute acid solutions is induced by the concerted multi-water molecule hydrogen bond rearrangement that occurs in pure water. This proposition on the dynamics that drive proton hopping is confirmed by a combination of experimental results from the literature.

Entropic barriers in the kinetics of aqueous proton transfer

Aqueous proton transport is uniquely rapid among aqueous processes, mediated by fluctuating hydrogen bond reorganization in liquid water. In a process known as Grotthuss diffusion, the excess charge diffuses primarily by sequential proton transfers between water molecules rather than standard Brownian motion, which explains the anomalously high electrical conductivity of acidic solutions. Employing ultrafast IR spectroscopy, we use the orientational anisotropy decay of the bending vibrations of the hydrated proton complex to study the picosecond aqueous proton transfer kinetics as a function of temperature, concentration, and counterion. We find that the orientational anisotropy decay exhibits Arrhenius behavior, with an apparent activation energy of 2.4 kcal/mol in 1M and 2M HCl. Interestingly, acidic solutions at high concentration with longer proton transfer time scales display corresponding decreases in activation energy. We interpret this counterintuitive trend by considering the entropic and enthalpic contributions to the activation free energy for proton transfer. Halide counteranions at high concentrations impose entropic barriers to proton transfer in the form of constraints on the solution's collective H-bond fluctuations and obstruction of potential proton transfer pathways. The corresponding proton transfer barrier decreases due to weaker water-halide H-bonds in close proximity to the excess proton, but the entropic effects dominate and result in a net reduction in the proton transfer rate. We estimate the activation free energy for proton transfer as ∼1.0 kcal/mol at 280 K.

Decoding the spectroscopic features and time scales of aqueous proton defects

Acid solutions exhibit a variety of complex structural and dynamical features arising from the presence of multiple interacting reactive proton defects and counterions. However, disentangling the transient structural motifs of proton defects in the water hydrogen bond network and the mechanisms for their interconversion remains a formidable challenge. Here, we use simulations treating the quantum nature of both the electrons and nuclei to show how the experimentally observed spectroscopic features and relaxation time scales can be elucidated using a physically transparent coordinate that encodes the overall asymmetry of the solvation environment of the proton defect. We demonstrate that this coordinate can be used both to discriminate the extremities of the features observed in the linear vibrational spectrum and to explain the molecular motions that give rise to the interconversion time scales observed in recent nonlinear experiments. This analysis provides a unified condensed-phase picture of the proton structure and dynamics that, at its extrema, encompasses proton sharing and spectroscopic features resembling the limiting Eigen [H₃O(H₂O)₃]⁺ and Zundel [H(H₂O)₂]⁺ gas-phase structures, while also describing the rich variety of interconverting environments in the liquid phase.

Decomposition of the Experimental Raman and Infrared Spectra of Acidic Water into Proton, Special Pair, and Counterion Contributions

Textbooks describe excess protons in liquid water as hydronium (H₃O⁺) ions, although their true structure remains lively debated. To address this question, we have combined Raman and infrared (IR) multivariate curve resolution spectroscopy with ab initio molecular dynamics and anharmonic vibrational spectroscopic calculations. Our results are used to resolve, for the first time, the vibrational spectra of hydrated protons and counterions and reveal that there is little ion-pairing below 2 M. Moreover, we find that isolated excess protons are strongly IR active and nearly Raman inactive (with vibrational frequencies of ∼1500 ± 500 cm^-1), while flanking water OH vibrations are both IR and Raman active (with higher frequencies of ∼2500 ± 500 cm^-1). The emerging picture is consistent with Georg Zundel's seminal work, as well as recent ultrafast dynamics studies, leading to the conclusion that protons in liquid water are primarily hydrated by two flanking water molecules, with a broad range of proton hydrogen bond lengths and asymmetries.

Concerted transfer of multiple protons in acid-water clusters: [(HCl)(H2O)]2 and [(HF)(H2O)]4

Molecular dynamics simulations using directly ab initio potentials are carried out for the ionically bonded clusters [(Cl^-)(H₃O⁺)]₂ and [(F^-)(H₃O⁺)]₄ to explore their transitions to the hydrogen-bonded [(HCl)(H₂O)]₂ and [(HF)(H₂O)]₄ structures during the first picosecond of simulation. Both the ionic and the H-bonded structures that are formed are highly symmetric. It is found that proton transfers are concerted in all trajectories for [(Cl^-)(H₃O⁺)]₂. For [(F^-)(H₃O⁺)]₄, the fully concerted mechanism is dominant but partially concerted transfers of two or three protons at the same time also occur. The concerted mechanism also holds for the reverse process of ionization of neutral acid molecules. It is suggested that the high symmetry of the ionic and the H-bonded structures plays a role in the preference for concerted transfers. Possible implications of the results for proton transfers in other systems are discussed.

Effects of H+ and OH− on H2O as probed by the 1-propanol probing methodology: differential thermodynamic approach

Two-dimensional characterization map of H⁺ and OH⁻, together with other ions.

Solvation structure of the halides from x-ray absorption spectroscopy

Three-dimensional models for the aqueous solvation structures of chloride, bromide, and iodide are reported. K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and Minuit X-ray absorption near edge (MXAN) analyses found well-defined single shell solvation spheres for bromide and iodide. However, dissolved chloride proved structurally distinct, with two solvation shells needed to explain its strikingly different X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectrum. Final solvation models were as follows: iodide, 8 water molecules at 3.60 ± 0.13 Å and bromide, 8 water molecules at 3.40 ± 0.14 Å, while chloride solvation included 7 water molecules at 3.15 ± 0.10 Å, and a second shell of 7 water molecules at 4.14 ± 0.30 Å. Each of the three derived solvation shells is approximately uniformly disposed about the halides, with no global asymmetry. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations simulating the chloride XANES spectra following from alternative solvation spheres revealed surprising sensitivity of the electronic state to 6-, 7-, or 8-coordination, implying a strongly bounded phase space for the correct structure during an MXAN fit. MXAN analysis further showed that the asymmetric solvation predicted from molecular dynamics simulations using halide polarization can play no significant part in bulk solvation. Classical molecular dynamics used to explore chloride solvation found a 7-water solvation shell at 3.12 (-0.04/+0.3) Å, supporting the experimental result. These experiments provide the first fully three-dimensional structures presenting to atomic resolution the aqueous solvation spheres of the larger halide ions.

Protons and Hydroxide Ions in Aqueous Systems

Understanding the structure and dynamics of water's constituent ions, proton and hydroxide, has been a subject of numerous experimental and theoretical studies over the last century. Besides their obvious importance in acid-base chemistry, these ions play an important role in numerous applications ranging from enzyme catalysis to environmental chemistry. Despite a long history of research, many fundamental issues regarding their properties continue to be an active area of research. Here, we provide a review of the experimental and theoretical advances made in the last several decades in understanding the structure, dynamics, and transport of the proton and hydroxide ions in different aqueous environments, ranging from water clusters to the bulk liquid and its interfaces with hydrophobic surfaces. The propensity of these ions to accumulate at hydrophobic surfaces has been a subject of intense debate, and we highlight the open issues and challenges in this area. Biological applications reviewed include proton transport along the hydration layer of various membranes and through channel proteins, problems that are at the core of cellular bioenergetics.

Ultrafast 2D IR spectroscopy of the excess proton in liquid water

Despite decades of study, the structures adopted to accommodate an excess proton in water and the mechanism by which they interconvert remain elusive. We used ultrafast two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy to investigate protons in aqueous hydrochloric acid solutions. By exciting O–H stretching vibrations and detecting the spectral response throughout the mid-IR region, we observed the interaction between the stretching and bending vibrations characteristic of the flanking waters of the Zundel complex, [H(H2O)2]+, at 3200 and 1760 cm−1, respectively. From time-dependent shifts of the stretch-bend cross peak, we determined a lower limit on the lifetime of this complex of 480 femtoseconds. These results suggest a key role for the Zundel complex in aqueous proton transfer.