The ease with which the pH of water is measured obscures the fact that there is presently no clear molecular description for the hydrated proton. The mid-infrared spectrum of bulk aqueous acid, for example, is too diffuse to establish the roles of the putative Eigen (H 3 O + ) and Zundel (H 5 O 2 + ) ion cores. To expose the local environment of the excess charge, we report how the vibrational spectrum of protonated water clusters evolves in the size range from 2 to 11 water molecules. Signature bands indicating embedded Eigen or Zundel limiting forms are observed in all of the spectra with the exception of the three- and five-membered clusters. These unique species display bands appearing at intermediate energies, reflecting asymmetric solvation of the core ion. Taken together, the data reveal the pronounced spectral impact of subtle changes in the hydration environment.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/308/5729/1765.full.pdf

Spectral signatures of hydrated proton vibrations in water clusters.

We report the OH stretching vibrational spectra of size-selected H+(H2O)n clusters through the region of the pronounced “magic number” at n = 21 in the cluster distribution. Sharp features are observed in the spectra and assigned to excitation of the dangling OH groups throughout the size range 6 ≤ n ≤ 27. A multiplet of such bands appears at small cluster sizes. This pattern simplifies to a doublet at n = 11, with the doublet persisting up to n = 20, but then collapsing to a single line in the n = 21 and n = 22 clusters and reemerging at n = 23. This spectral simplification provides direct evidence that, for the magic number cluster, all the dangling OH groups arise from water molecules in similar binding sites.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/304/5674/1137.full.pdf

Infrared signature of structures associated with the H+(H2O)n (n = 6 to 27) clusters.

1.1. Historical Background Hydrogen bonds1,2 are one of the principal intermolecular forces. A special class are ionic hydrogen bonds (IHBs) that form between ions and molecules with bonds strengths of 5-35 kcal/mol, up to a third of the strength of covalent bonds. These strong interactions are critical, for example, in ionic clusters and nucleation, in electrolytes, ion solvation, and acid-base chemistry, in the structures of ionic crystals, surfaces, silicates, and clays, in surface adsorption, and in self-assembly in supramolecular chemistry and molecular crystals.3 IHBs are also important in bioenergetics including protein folding, enzyme active centers, formation of membranes and proton transport, and biomolecular recognition. With such wide-ranging roles, the fundamental properties of IHB interactions need to be understood. The energetics of IHB interactions cannot be isolated and quantified in the condensed phase. However, these interactions can be isolated and studied quantitatively in gas phase. These studies lead to a fundamental understanding of relations between IHB bond strengths and molecular structure, the solvation of ions, especially in the critical inner shells, and acid-based phenomena and bioenergetics. This review will present the basic insights that have been obtained in the past four decades. It will present a comprehensive review of the thermochemistry and its structural implications obtained from ab initio calculations. Relevant recent results from spectroscopy will be also illustrated. The advent of variable temperature high-pressure mass spectrometry (HPMS) introduced by Field and co-workers in the 1960s4 and pulsed high-pressure mass spectrometry (PHPMS) introduced by Kebarle in the late 1960s5 have been particularly significant. These workers realized that at pressures of several torrs and gas densities of 1016-1017 cm-3 in ion sources, ions can undergo 103-106 collisions with neutral molecules during typical residence times of 0.1-10 ms and establish thermal ion populations and * E-mail: m.mautner@solis1.com. 213 Chem. Rev. 2005, 105, 213−284

http://www.astro-ecology.com/PDFTheIonicHydrogenBondChemicalReviews2005Paper.pdf

The Ionic Hydrogen Bond

Size-dependent development of the hydrogen bond network structure in largesized clusters of protonated water, H+(H2O)n (n = 4 to 27), was probed by infrared spectroscopy of OH stretches. Spectral changes with cluster size demonstrate that the chain structures at small sizes (n ≲ 10) develop into two-dimensional net structures (∼10

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/304/5674/1134.full.pdf

Infrared spectroscopic evidence for protonated water clusters forming nanoscale cages.

Water purification by solar distillation is a promising technology to produce fresh water. However, solar vapor generation, is energy intensive, leading to a low water yield under natural sunlight. Therefore, developing new materials that can reduce the energy requirement of water vaporization and speed up solar water purification is highly desirable. Here, we introduce a highly hydratable light-absorbing hydrogel (h-LAH) consisting of polyvinyl alcohol and chitosan as the hydratable skeleton and polypyrrole as the light absorber, which can use less energy ( −2  hour −1 under 1 sun. The h-LAH-based solar still also exhibits long-term durability and antifouling functionality toward complex ionic contaminants.

Architecting highly hydratable polymer networks to tune the water state for solar water purification

Protonated water clusters, H+(H2O)n (n = 5−8), from a supersonic expansion have been investigated by vibrational predissociation spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. The experimental spectra were obtained at an estimated cluster temperature of 170 ± 20 K. Recorded absorption bands at the frequency range of 2700−3900 cm-1 are attributed to the free- and hydrogen-bonded-OH stretches of the ion core and the surrounding solvent molecules. Ab initio calculations, performed at the B3LYP/6-31+G* level, indicate that geometries of the H+(H2O)5-8 isomers are close in energy, with the excess proton either localized on a single water molecule, yielding H3O+(H2O)n-1, or equally shared by two molecules, yielding H5O2+(H2O)n-2. Systematic comparison of the experimental and computed spectra provides compelling evidence for both cases. The unique proton-transfer intermediate H5O2+(H2O)4 was identified, for the first time, by its characteristic bonded-OH stretching absorptions at 3178 cm-1. The existence of five-membe...

Infrared Spectra of H+(H2O)5-8 Clusters: Evidence for Symmetric Proton Hydration

The NH4+(H2O)3-6 cluster ions synthesized by a free jet expansion contain a variety of structural isomers. This investigation identifies some of these isomers by employing vibrational predissociation spectroscopy (VPS) in conjunction with ab initio calculations. The NH4+(H2O)n ions are produced by corona discharge of NH3/H2O seeded in a H2 beam. They are mass-selected and then vibrationally cooled in an octopole ion trap for infrared spectroscopic measurements. In the VPS, four distinct stretching vibrations (hydrogen-bonded and non-hydrogen-bonded NH and OH) are closely examined. The characteristic absorptions of these stretches, together with systematic temperature dependence measurements of their band intensities, allow us to identify both cyclic and noncyclic isomers in the supersonic jet. Such identification is corroborated by ab initio calculations performed at the B3LYP and MP2 levels using the 6-31+G* basis set. The satisfactory agreement in both vibrational frequencies and absorption intensities ...

Structures and Isomeric Transitions of NH4+(H2O)3-6: From Single to Double Rings

Vibrational predissociation spectroscopy of protonated methanol clusters (tetramers and pentamers) reveals linear and cyclic structural isomers in a supersonic expansion. The cyclic pentamer, containing a five-membered ring, is identified by its characteristic free-OH stretch at 3647 cm-1 and hydrogen-bonded OH stretches at 3448 and 3461 cm-1. Ab initio calculations indicate that the excess proton in these clusters can be either localized on one methanol unit in cyclic CH3OH2+(CH3OH)3 and linear CH3OH2+(CH3OH)4 or delocalized between two methanol molecules in linear C2H9O2+(CH3OH)2 and cyclic C2H9O2+(CH3OH)3. Dynamic intracluster proton transfer can occur upon repeated ring opening and closing. The association of this process with the anomalously high proton mobility in liquid methanol is discussed.

Isomeric Transitions between Linear and Cyclic H+(CH3OH)4,5: Implications for Proton Migration in Liquid Methanol

An excess proton can migrate from a solute to solvent molecules upon asymmetric solvation. The migration depends sensitively on solvation number, solvation structure, and proton affinity differences between solute and solvent molecules. The present study demonstrates this intriguing solvation-induced effect using protonated dimethyl ether−water clusters as the benchmark system. An integrated examination of H+[(CH3)2O](H2O)n by vibrational predissociation spectroscopy and ab initio calculations indicates that the excess proton is (1) localized on (CH3)2O at n = 1, (2) equally shared by (CH3)2O and (H2O)2 at n = 2, and (3) completely transferred to (H2O)n at n ≥ 3. The dynamics of proton transfer is revealed by the characteristic free- and hydrogen-bonded-OH stretching vibrations of the water molecules in direct contact with the excess proton. Both hydrogen bond cooperativity and zero-point vibrations have crucial influences on the final position of the proton in the clusters. Further insight into this rema...

Sheng H. Lin

Papers

Infrared Spectra of H+(H2O)5-8 Clusters: Evidence for Symmetric Proton Hydration

Structures and Isomeric Transitions of NH4+(H2O)3-6: From Single to Double Rings

Isomeric Transitions between Linear and Cyclic H+(CH3OH)4,5: Implications for Proton Migration in Liquid Methanol

Migration of an Excess Proton upon Asymmetric Hydration: H+[(CH3)2O](H2O)n as a Model System

Infrared Spectra of H+(H2O)5—8 Clusters: Evidence for Symmetric Proton Hydration.