On the molecular mechanism of ion specific Hofmeister series. Xie, W., J., Liu, C., Yang, L., & Gao, Y., Q. Science China Chemistry, 57:36-47, 2014.
On the molecular mechanism of ion specific Hofmeister series [pdf]Paper  On the molecular mechanism of ion specific Hofmeister series [link]Website  doi  abstract   bibtex   
Hofmeister series ranks the ability of salt ions in influencing a\nvariety of properties and processes in aqueous solutions. In this\nreview, we reexamine how these ions and some other small molecules\naffect water structure and thermodynamic properties, such as surface\ntension and protein backbone solvation. We illustrate the difficulties\nin interpreting the thermodynamic information based on structural and\ndynamic arguments. As an alternative, we show that the solvation\nproperties of ions and proteins/small molecules can be used to explain\nthe salt effects on the thermodynamic properties of the solutions. Our\nanalysis shows that the often neglected cation-anion cooperativity plays\na very important role in these effects. We also argue that the change of\nhydrogen donor/acceptor equilibrium by added cosolutes/cosolvents can be\nused to explain their effects on protein secondary structure\ndenaturation/protection: those increase hydrogen donor concentrations\nsuch as urea and salts with strongly solvated cations/weakly hydrated\nanions tend to dissolve protein backbone acting as secondary structure\ndenaturants, whereas those lack of hydrogen donors but rich in acceptors\nhave the opposite effect.

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