Predicting the hydrogen bond strength from water reorientation dynamics at short timescales

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Zysk, Frederik, Verde, Ana Vila, Kaliannan, Naveen K., Karhan, Kristof, Kühne, Thomas D.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Zysk, Frederik
Verde, Ana Vila
Kaliannan, Naveen K.
Karhan, Kristof
Kühne, Thomas D.
author_facet Zysk, Frederik
Verde, Ana Vila
Kaliannan, Naveen K.
Karhan, Kristof
Kühne, Thomas D.
contents Path-integral molecular dynamics simulations and electronic structure-based energy decomposition analysis (EDA) are employed to connect hydrogen bond (H-bond) strength, its asymmetry, and the total delocalization energy at the water/air interface to experimentally measurable observables, such as the reorientation dynamics and the sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectrum. Using SFG spectra for distinct layers at the water/air interface, we validate the accuracy of our simulations and report a red-shift from the interface to bulk and a strongly bonded water peak at around 3250 cm$^{-1}$ in the layer closest to bulk. The reorientation dynamics of water molecules slow down from the interface to bulk, which correlates with the SFG results. From our EDA based on absolutely localized molecular orbitals, we observe a strong decline in total delocalization energy from bulk to the interface, as well as a decline in the strength of the strongest donor and acceptor interactions. The asymmetry between the two strongest interactions similarly rises towards the interface, while the importance of interactions from the outer solvation shells is greatly diminished and is lower than previously reported. Finally, we find that the strength of the strongest H-bond donor/acceptor is best correlated with the local minimum of the autocorrelation function resembling the L2 band librational motions. Following that, we propose a simple yet quantitative relationship between H-bond strength and the short-time reorientation dynamics at the water/air interface that could potentially be extended to predict H-bond strength in other hydrophobic systems from experimentally obtainable observables.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_00311
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Predicting the hydrogen bond strength from water reorientation dynamics at short timescales
Zysk, Frederik
Verde, Ana Vila
Kaliannan, Naveen K.
Karhan, Kristof
Kühne, Thomas D.
Chemical Physics
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
Computational Physics
Path-integral molecular dynamics simulations and electronic structure-based energy decomposition analysis (EDA) are employed to connect hydrogen bond (H-bond) strength, its asymmetry, and the total delocalization energy at the water/air interface to experimentally measurable observables, such as the reorientation dynamics and the sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectrum. Using SFG spectra for distinct layers at the water/air interface, we validate the accuracy of our simulations and report a red-shift from the interface to bulk and a strongly bonded water peak at around 3250 cm$^{-1}$ in the layer closest to bulk. The reorientation dynamics of water molecules slow down from the interface to bulk, which correlates with the SFG results. From our EDA based on absolutely localized molecular orbitals, we observe a strong decline in total delocalization energy from bulk to the interface, as well as a decline in the strength of the strongest donor and acceptor interactions. The asymmetry between the two strongest interactions similarly rises towards the interface, while the importance of interactions from the outer solvation shells is greatly diminished and is lower than previously reported. Finally, we find that the strength of the strongest H-bond donor/acceptor is best correlated with the local minimum of the autocorrelation function resembling the L2 band librational motions. Following that, we propose a simple yet quantitative relationship between H-bond strength and the short-time reorientation dynamics at the water/air interface that could potentially be extended to predict H-bond strength in other hydrophobic systems from experimentally obtainable observables.
title Predicting the hydrogen bond strength from water reorientation dynamics at short timescales
topic Chemical Physics
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.00311