Acetone hydration in supercritical water: (13)C-NMR spectroscopy and Monte Carlo simulation

The (13)C-NMR chemical shift of acetone delta((13)C[Double Bond]O) was measured in aqueous solution at high temperatures up to 400 degrees C and water densities of 0.10-0.60 g/cm(3) for the study of hydration structure in the supercritical conditions. The average number N(HB) of hydrogen bonds (HBs) between an acetone and solvent waters and the energy change DeltaE upon the HB formation were evaluated from the delta and its temperature dependence, respectively. At 400 degrees C, N(HB) is an increasing function of the water density, the increase being slower at higher water densities. The acetone-water HB formation is exothermic in supercritical water with larger negative DeltaE at lower water densities (-3.3 kcal/mol at 0.10 g/cm(3) and -0.3 kcal/mol at 0.60 g/cm(3)), in contrast to the positive DeltaE in ambient water (+0.078 kcal/mol at 4 degrees C). The corresponding Monte Carlo simulations were performed to calculate the radial and orientational distribution functions of waters around the acetone molecule. The density dependence of N(HB) calculated at 400 degrees C is in a qualitative agreement with the experimental results. In the supercritical conditions, the HB angle in a neighboring acetone-water pair is weakly influenced by the water density, because of the absence of collective HB structure. This is in sharp contrast to the hydration structure in ambient water, where the acetone-water HB formation is orientationally disturbed by the tetrahedral HB network formation among the surrounding waters.