The association of molecules to form specific, noncovalent complexes is central to many biological processes. The strength and specificity of binding is governed both by the formation of selective solute-solute interactions and by solvent effects. [1][2][3][4] Although the structures and association thermochemistry of many biological complexes in solution have been determined, these data do not provide a complete description of the recognition process.[5] The challenge for researchers aiming to achieve a more complete understanding of the molecular recognition process is the separation of solvent effects from solute-solute interactions, something never-before accomplished for a biomolecular complex. Herein, we describe a novel methodology to perform this task. Our approach involves comparison of the energetic stabilities of solvated complexes with those of their desolvated (gaseous) counterparts.The enthalpy of association in solution (DH assoc ) can be expressed as the sum of the enthalpic contributions made by intrinsic solute-solute interactions (DH intrin ) and solvent effects (DH solv ), as shown in Equation (1).The DH assoc term can be determined directly by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) [6] or from a vant Hoff analysis of the temperature dependence of the association constant. [7] The strength of the solute-solute interactions is most reliably determined in the absence of solvent, that is, in vacuo. In principle, DH intrin can be determined from the temperature dependence of the equilibrium constant for the association of the complex in the gas phase, that is, from the slope of a vant Hoff plot. This slope corresponds to DH assoc,g , the association enthalpy of the gaseous complex. However, such measurements are generally not possible for biologically relevant molecules because of their extremely low vapor pressures. Furthermore, measurements of this kind probably would not provide the desired thermodynamic information since the structure of the complex formed in the gas phase is unlikely to resemble the structure in solution.[8] A more useful quantity is the energetic stability of the biomolecular complex formed initially in solution and then dehydrated such that it retains the essential aspects of its solution structure. Transfer of biomolecular complexes from the aqueous phase to the gas phase by electrospray or nanoelectrospray ionization readily affords the desolvated species. The value of DH assoc,g cannot be determined directly but can be estimated from the Arrhenius activation energy (E a ) for the dissociation of the desolvated complex at thermal equilibrium. The value E a is related to the enthalpy of activation for the dissociation of the complex, DH°d iss,g (E a = DH°d iss,g + RT), [9] which can provide a good approximation of the magnitude of DH assoc,g (opposite sign to that of DH°d iss,g ) if the reaction is assumed to be barrierless (that is, no reverse activation energy).[10] If the reaction is not barrierless, determination of DH°d iss,g yields an overestimation of DH assoc,g . P...