1H and 13C NMR of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)/H2O mixtures were measured, together with the IR of DMSO/D2O mixtures, to study the effect of the polar SO group on hydration of the CH groups. Chemical shifts
were determined by the external double reference method, which provides the in situ volume magnetic
susceptibility indispensable to the correction of the chemical shifts. The chemical shift of the water protons
as the measure of the polarization of the water in the mixtures, δ
H
2O, increases from 3.6 ppm at the water
mole fraction X
H2O = 0.05 to 4.8 ppm, the value for pure water, at X
H2O = 0.80. It exceeds 4.8 ppm in the
region of X
H2O > 0.80 at 23.3 °C, indicating the presence of anomalously polarized water molecules, so-called hydrophobic hydration. The frequencies of the CH stretching vibration bands for (DMSO)/D2O mixtures,
ν(CH), increase with increasing X
D2O, implying the progressive depolarization and contraction of the CH
bonds. ν(CH) values take maxima at X
D2O = 0.96. The chemical shift of the CH proton increases very slightly
with increasing X
H2O, whereas that of the CH carbon decreases, suggesting the polarization of the CH bonds
contrary to the depolarization in them as shown by the blueshifts of the ν(CH) values. The pushball hydration
model previously presented is applied to interpret the results; the electron of CH hydrogen is pushed toward
the carbon atom due to dispersion interaction with the electrons of water oxygen. The pushing effect probed
by the blueshifts of ν(CH) can be related to the increase in the polarization of the water molecules probed by
δ
H
2O. The redshifts in ν(CH) in the water rich extreme may be ascribed to a partial polarization of the CH
bond resulting from hydrogen bonding interaction with highly polarized water molecules, in addition to the
dispersion interaction. The role of the SO group in the hydration of the CH groups is discussed in comparison
with the roles of the hydrophilic groups of acetone and tert-butyl alcohol.