In the first part of the talk we will have a look at "biological water". Cells are very crowded, and to what extent this affects the properties of intracellular water is heavily debated. Using time-resolved vibrational and dielectric-relaxation spectroscopy we observe the ultrafast random orientational motion of water molecules inside living cells of three prototypical organisms, and investigate how the dynamics of "biological water" differs from that of tap water. In the second part of the talk, we discuss the solubilities of the two simplest polyethers: PEG (repeating unit -CH2-CH2-O-), which is present in almost every cosmetic, and POM (repeating unit -CH2-O-), a plastic known to every (former) chemistry student as the brightly-coloured Keck clips for connecting glassware. Surprisingly, PEG dissolves very well in water, but POM is completely insoluble: the opposite of what one might expect from the ratio of hydrophobic to hydrophilic parts in these polymers. Using a combination of experiments and ab-initio MD simulations we try to solve this apparent mystery.

Weird hydration: Water in living cells and the strange case of PEG vs. POM

2019 Fall National Meeting

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