Modern Solvation Thermodynamics from Macroscopic to Microscopic Approach

The concept of solvation was originally studied within thermodynamics. This may be referred to as the macroscopic approach to solvation. It involved the transfer of solute from the gaseous phase into the solvent under well-specified thermodynamic conditions. In 1978, a new definition of the solvation process was introduced. This new definition may be referred to as the molecular or the microscopic approach to the study of solvation. Once the new definition was introduced and shown to be advantageous, all the traditional definitions were rendered obsolete. With this new definition, a host of difficult problems in chemistry and biochemistry could be studied, including the mystery associated with the entropy of solvation of inert gases in water, the problems associated with protein folding, and protein self-assembly.