Figure 13.

Hydrophobic-interaction-driven model (HDM) of molecular recognition. The solutes mainly affect the structure of interfacial water (dashed line). Due to hydrophobic interactions, the solutes are attracted and approach in the direction with the lowest energy barrier in the H1w process. As the solutes become contact in the H2s process, they are accumulated in a specific direction to minimize the surface area to volume ratio. Additionally, with decreasing separation between the solutes in the H2s process, the solute-solute interactions become stronger. The affinity of molecular recognition is related to both the hydrophobic interactions and the solute-solute interactions.