SOLVENT EFFECTS AND MOLECULAR CLUSTERS - ESPECIALLY IN AQUEOUS-ORGANIC SOLVENTS

Ethanol, acetonitrile, acetone etc. are miscible with water at any mix ing ratio : however, the mixtures are not homogeneous in view of the m olecular level owing to the hydrogen-bonding interaction between water molecules and the hydrophobic interaction between water and organic s olvent molecules. Through these interactions, molecular clusters are e asy to be formed in the aqueous organic solvents. The clustering struc ture of the aqueous organic solvents influences the microscopic enviro nment of substrates in these solvents and controls various chemical re actions such as the hydrolysis of tert-butyl chloride (S(N)1 reaction) . This review will focus on the solvent effects studied in terms of t he molecular clusters which reflect the microscopic environment around the substrates. Furthermore, it will be described that the fluctuatio n of solvent molecules in the solvation cluster is another important f actor to trigger a chemical reaction.