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Physical chemistry

The protean proton in water

Nature volume 397, pages 565–567 (1999)Cite this article

The character and anomalously high mobility of the hydrated proton in liquid water have long exercised researchers, providing inspiration for widely disparate and conflicting theories1. Recent years have seen an intensification of this effort, especially on the theoretical front, and on page 601 of this issue2 Marx et. al. address these questions using perhaps the most powerful computer simulation techniques to date. The authors conclude, as have others, that the most widely held views of the structure and transport of the hydrated proton should be replaced by a more complex and rich picture, in which the proton's quantum-mechanical character plays an important role. These results should have an impact in areas related to aqueous acid-base chemistry3, enzymatic proton transfers4 (including ‘low-barrier hydrogen bonds’5), proton transport in biological channels (‘proton wires’)6 and atmospheric proton transfers on ice surfaces7.

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  1. the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, 80309, Colorado, USA

    James T. Hynes

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  1. James T. Hynes
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Hynes, J. The protean proton in water. Nature 397, 565–567 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/17487

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