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Ab initio calculations and X-ray diffraction experiments were carried out to study the structure of solutions of calcium chloride in water and methanol. Ab initio calculations were performed at MP2 level and density functional calculations at B3LYP level on calcium-water and calcium-methanol clusters yielding the formation of stable calcium-water clusters with up to eight water molecules and calcium-methanol clusters with up to seven methanol molecules. The experiments were performed in a wide concentration range both in water and in methanol (1-6 M and 1-2 M, respectively). The coordination number of the cation in low-concentration (1 M) aqueous and methanol solutions could only be determined with great uncertainty due to the low weights of cation-solvent contributions to the X-ray scattering intensity for both series of solutions. It was found that in 1 M solutions the Ca 2+ ion is surrounded by eight (five to ten) water and six (four to seven) methanol molecules, respectively. The coordination numbers decrease with an increase in concentration. The accuracy of the coordination numbers determined increases with increasing concentration. The solvation shell of Clion is composed of six solvent molecules in each solution. We have found evidence of both contact and solvent-separated Ca-Cl ion pair formation at higher concentrations. On the basis of the stoichiometry of the solution and structural parameters obtained, different models are suggested to explain the liquid structure of the solutions.

To determine the structure of aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions, results obtained from x-ray diffraction and computer simulation (molecular dynamics and Car-Parrinello) have been compared. The capabilities and limitations of the methods in describing the solution structure are discussed. For the solutions studied, diffraction methods were found to perform very well in describing the hydration spheres of the sodium ion and yield structural information on the anion’s hydration structure. Classical molecular dynamics simulations were not able to correctly describe the bulk structure of these solutions. However, Car-Parrinello simulation proved to be a suitable tool in the detailed interpretation of the hydration sphere of ions and bulk structure of solutions. The results of Car-Parrinello simulations were compared with the findings of diffraction experiments.

An improved central force model for water recently developed was used to perform a molecular dynamics simulation of a 1.1 m aqueous CaC12 solution at the experimental density at room temperature. The ion-water potentials were derived from ab initio calculations. The solution was simulated for 10 ps at 300 K. A new X-ray scattering study of a CaClz solution was performed at the same concentration and temperature. The structure function and the radial distribution function were evaluated with geometrical models. The comparison between experimental and theoretical results is performed on the level both of the structure function and of the interparticle radial pair distribution functions. More detailed results about the structure of the cationic hydration shell are also presented and compared with results of other recent simulation and neutron diffraction work.

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