New research at BGU and the Max-Born Institute in Berlin has shown how protons are solvated in water. The hydrated proton, which is water solvating the nucleolus of the hydrogen atom, is both chemically stable and retains an electrical charge, making it Nature’s choice for the engine that drives biochemical processes in all living organisms.
The reported findings are of great significance because the hydrated proton has enormous importance for all life processes. The proton is positively charged and is used by the cell to drive chemical processes much like electricity drives electric machines. The cell uses the ability of water to store protons within them in large numbers while at the same time enabling the proton to be highly mobile when moving through them. This makes the hydrated proton the engine which drives many biological processes inside the cell.
Prof. Ehud Pines of the Department of Chemistry at BGU and a group of researchers from the Max-Born Institute in Berlin led by Prof. Thomas Elsaesser and Dr. Erik Nibbering used a method that was developed at BGU in order to study the smallest protonated water droplet. The researchers used ultra-short laser pulses in the infrared region and an ultrafast camera to study the structure of the protonated water drop.
The study was just published in the prestigious Angewandte Chemie where it was given the highest score for importance by the journal.
The paper describes how the position of the proton in between two water molecules changes as a result of spontaneous fluctuations occurring in the structure of the organic solvent where the protonated water drop was solvated.
