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[1] [2] The word hydrophobic literally means "water-fearing", and it describes the segregation of water and nonpolar substances, which maximizes the entropy of water and minimizes the area of contact between water and nonpolar molecules. In terms of thermodynamics, the hydrophobic effect is the free energy change of water surrounding a solute. [3]
The hydrophobic interaction is mostly an entropic effect originating from the disruption of the highly dynamic hydrogen bonds between molecules of liquid water by the nonpolar solute, causing the water to compensate by forming a clathrate-like cage structure around the non-polar molecules. This structure is more highly ordered than free water ...
Due to the polar nature of the water molecule itself, other polar molecules are generally able to dissolve in water. Most nonpolar molecules are water-insoluble (hydrophobic) at room temperature. Many nonpolar organic solvents, such as turpentine, are able to dissolve nonpolar substances.
In a non-polar solvent, it is the exposure of the hydrophilic head groups to the surrounding solvent that is energetically unfavourable, giving rise to a water-in-oil system. In this case, the hydrophilic groups are sequestered in the micelle core and the hydrophobic groups extend away from the center.
The solubility of a specific solute in a specific solvent is generally expressed as the concentration of a saturated solution of the two. [1] Any of the several ways of expressing concentration of solutions can be used, such as the mass, volume, or amount in moles of the solute for a specific mass, volume, or mole amount of the solvent or of the solution.
An example of these amphiphilic molecules is the lipids that comprise the cell membrane. Another example is soap, which has a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail, allowing it to dissolve in both water and oil. Hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules are also known as polar molecules and nonpolar molecules, respectively. Some hydrophilic ...
The hydrophobic effect represents the tendency of water to exclude non-polar molecules. The effect originates from the disruption of highly dynamic hydrogen bonds between molecules of liquid water. Polar chemical groups, such as OH group in methanol do not cause the hydrophobic effect.
Lipophilicity (from Greek λίπος "fat" and φίλος "friendly") is the ability of a chemical compound to dissolve in fats, oils, lipids, and non-polar solvents such as hexane or toluene. Such compounds are called lipophilic (translated as "fat-loving" or "fat-liking" [1] [2]). Such non-polar solvents are themselves lipophilic, and the ...