Dynamic hydration shell restores Kauzmann's 1959 explanation of how the hydrophobic factor drives protein folding

Significance Kauzmann's proposal that the hydrophobicity of hydrocarbons in water is caused by their hydration shells is modified here by replacing his clathrate water shell with a dynamic shell formed by van der Waals attraction, as proposed by Jorgensen et al. The hydration energetics of alkanes are then shown to be proportional to n, the number of waters in the shell given by the simulations of Jorgensen et al. The Ben-Naim standard state, which is based on solute transfer between fixed positions in the gas and liquid phases, is used for the hydration energetics. Recent experimental evidence for hydration shells is reviewed.