A Revisit of the Conformational Stability of the Tetraethylammonium Ion in Water

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the conformational stability due to the local structural change of tetraethylammonium ion (abbreviated as Et₄N⁺) in water and alcohols. Our results indicated that the conformational stability of Et₄N⁺ has a close relation to the solvation of aqueous tetraalkylammonium salt (R₄NX) solutions. Furthermore, we discussed the relationship between the thermodynamic properties and microscopic information. We showed that the hydrophobic interactions and hydration are affected by the enthalpy and entropy differences of the Et₄N⁺ conformers in aqueous Et₄NX solutions, where the thermodynamic parameters of the conformers may be useful for explaining the changes.