Computational methodology for solubility prediction: Application to sparingly soluble organic/inorganic materials

The solubility of a crystalline material can be estimated from the absolute free energy of the solid and the excess solvation free energy. In the earlier work, we presented a general-purpose molecular-dynamics-based methodology enabling solubility predictions of crystalline compounds, yielding accurate estimates of the aqueous solubilities of naphthalene at various pressures and temperatures. In the present work, we investigate a number of prototypical complex materials, including phenanthrene, calcite, and aragonite over a range of temperatures and pressures. Our results provide stronger evidence for the power of the methodology for universal solubility predictions.