THE EFFECT OF THE FUNCTIONAL-GROUPS OF ORGANIC SOLUTES ON THE SUPPRESSION OF CRYSTALLIZATION IN AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS

Mono- and polyfunctional solutes with 1, 2 and 3 carbon atoms were investigated for their abilities to suppress crystallization when diluted in water. The alcohol, amide, amine and carboxylic acid functions were considered. The effect of these different groups is related to their strengths in the solute/water interactions. However, the vitrification tendency is also related to a critical balance between hydrophilic and hydrophobic sides of the solute molecule. This balance allows an optimization of solute/solute and solute/water interactions to limit stable hydrate or ice crystallization. Other factors such as geometry and symmetry are also important as part of the accessible surface to the solvent, as underlined by the results of other authors; these factors are not directly analyzed in this paper.