Title: hydrophobic interaction
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - hydrophobic interaction
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.H02907
Status: current

Definition
The tendency of hydrocarbons (or of lipophilic hydrocarbon-like groups in solutes) to form intermolecular aggregates in an aqueous medium, and analogous intramolecular interactions. The name arises from the attribution of the phenomenon to the apparent repulsion between water and hydrocarbons. However, the phenomenon ought to be attributed to the effect of the hydrocarbon-like groups on the water-water interaction. The misleading alternative term 'hydrophobic bond' is discouraged.

Related Terms
- hydrocarbons: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/H02889
- intermolecular: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/I03098
- intramolecular: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/I03130
- lipophilic: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/L03572

Source
- PAC, 1994, 66, 1077. 'Glossary of terms used in physical organic chemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 1994)' on page 1123 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199466051077)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/H02907/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/H02907/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/H02907/xml

Citation: Citation: 'hydrophobic interaction' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.H02907
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Accessed: 2026-05-18T07:17:11+00:00