Note: Second osmotic virial coefficients of short alkanes and their alcohol counterparts in water as a function of temperature.

While molecular-scale hydrophobic interactions are readily evaluable from molecular simulations, it is challenging to compare these predictions against experiment as a result of the sparing solubility of purely non-polar species. Recent theoretical and simulation advances have enabled the determination of second osmotic virial coefficients for solutes in aqueous solution, providing an alternate route for experimental validation. Here we report simulation predictions for the second osmotic virial coefficients for methane and ethane as well as those for their alcohol counterparts, methanol and ethanol, in water over a broad temperature range. The results for the alcohols quantitatively agree with available experimental results, providing support for simulation predictions for molecular-scale hydrophobic interactions.