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Updated: Nov 25, 2025

Dissolution Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Instrumentation for Real-time Enzymatic Reaction Rate Measurements by NMR
Published on: February 23, 2016
Nonpolar Water Clusters: Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Evidence for Transformation from Polar Water
Kouki Oka1, Toshimichi Shibue2, Natsuhiko Sugimura2
1Department of Applied Chemistry and Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan.
Abstract:
The hydrophilic/hydrophobic interactions of water are important in biological and chemical self-assembly phenomena. Water clusters in hydrophobic environments exhibit a unique morphology. Their process of formation and nonpolar properties have been extensively studied, but no direct experimental evidence has been available until now. This study provides spectroscopic evidence for the transformation of water to nonpolar configuration via clustering. Although individual water molecules form hydrogen bonds with the hydroxyl protons of n-hexanol when codissolved in a nonpolar solvent (toluene-d8), the water clusters are comprised solely of hydrogen bonds between water molecules and do not form hydrogen bonds with the hydroxyl protons of n-hexanol. This behavior indicates that the water clusters are nonpolar rather than polar. This study reports the first example of nonpolar water configuration produced via a liquid-state clustering. This property is a common and important interfacial phenomenon of water in chemistry, biology, materials science, geology, and meteorology.
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