Electrostatic and induction effects in the solubility of water in alkanes.

Experiments show that at 298 K and 1 atm pressure, the transfer free energy, μex, of water from its vapor to liquid normal alkanes CnH2n+2 (n=5…12) is negative. Earlier it was found that with the united-atom TraPPE model for alkanes and the SPC/E model for water, one had to artificially enhance the attractive alkane-water cross interaction to capture this behavior. Here we revisit the calculation of μex using the polarizable AMOEBA and the non-polarizable Charmm General (CGenFF) forcefields. We test both the AMOEBA03 and AMOEBA14 water models; the former has been validated with the AMOEBA alkane model while the latter is a revision of AMOEBA03 to better describe liquid water. We calculate μex using the test particle method. With CGenFF, μex is positive and the error relative to experiments is about 1.5 kBT. With AMOEBA, μex is negative and deviations relative to experiments are between 0.25 kBT (AMOEBA14) and 0.5 kBT (AMOEBA03). Quantum chemical calculations in a continuum solvent suggest that zero point effects may account for some of the deviation. Forcefield limitations notwithstanding, electrostatic and induction effects, commonly ignored in consideration of water-alkane interactions, appear to be decisive in the solubility of water in alkanes.