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Steering a solute between coexisting solvation states: Revisiting nonequilibrium work relations and the calculation of free energy differences.

By analogy with single-molecule pulling experiments, we present a computational framework to obtain free energy differences between complex solvation states. To illustrate our approach, we focus on the calculation of solvation free energies (SFEs). However, the method can be readily extended to cases involving more complex solutes and solvation conditions as well as to the calculation of binding free energies. The main idea is to drag the solute across the simulation box where atomistic and ideal gas representations of the solvent coexist at constant temperature and chemical potential. At finite pulling speeds, the resulting work allows one to extract SFEs via nonequilibrium relations, whereas at infinitely slow pulling speeds, this process becomes equivalent to the thermodynamic integration method. Results for small molecules well agree with literature data and pave the way to systematic studies of arbitrarily large and complex molecules.