In chemistry, a water cluster is a discrete hydrogen bonded assembly or cluster of molecules of water.[1][2] Many such clusters have been predicted by theoretical models (in silico), and some have been detected experimentally in various contexts such as ice, bulk liquid water, in the gas phase, in dilute mixtures with non-polar solvents, and as water of hydration in crystal lattices. The simplest example is the water dimer (H2O)2.
Water clusters have been proposed as an explanation for some anomalous properties of liquid water, such as its unusual variation of density with temperature. Water clusters are also implicated in the stabilization of certain supramolecular structures.[3] They are expected to play a role also in the hydration of molecules and ions dissolved in water.[4][5]
- ^ Xantheas, Sotiris; Dunning Jr., Thorn (1993). "Ab initio studies of cyclic water clusters (H2O)n, n=1–6. I. Optimal structures and vibrational spectra". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 99 (11): 8774–8792. Bibcode:1993JChPh..99.8774X. doi:10.1063/1.465599.
- ^ Ralf Ludwig (2001). "Water: From Clusters to the Bulk". Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 40 (10): 1808–1827. doi:10.1002/1521-3773(20010518)40:10<1808::AID-ANIE1808>3.0.CO;2-1. PMID 11385651.
- ^ Ghosh, Sujit; Bhardwaj, Parimal (2004). "A Dodecameric Water Cluster Built around a Cyclic Quasiplanar Hexameric Core in an Organic Supramolecular Complex of a Cryptand". Angewandte Chemie. 116 (27): 3661–3664. Bibcode:2004AngCh.116.3661G. doi:10.1002/ange.200454002.
- ^ A. D. Kulkarni; S. R. Gadre; S. Nagase (2008). "Quantum chemical and electrostatic studies of anionic water clusters(H2O)n−". Journal of Molecular Structure: THEOCHEM. 851 (1–3): 213. doi:10.1016/j.theochem.2007.11.019.
- ^ A. D. Kulkarni; K. Babu; L. J. Bartolotti; S. R. Gadre. (2004). "Exploring Hydration Patterns of Aldehydes and Amides: Ab Initio Investigations". J. Phys. Chem. A. 108 (13): 2492. Bibcode:2004JPCA..108.2492K. doi:10.1021/jp0368886.