Further speculating if differences in polarization could be the cause of this disparate H-bonding behavior, to analyze the polarization within the QM/MM model we computed the partial atomic charges of CV + surrounded by the explicit methanol MM point charges. We averaged over 21 snapshots that included the axial H-bond, comparing these values to the original charges computed with implicit solvent. The axial H-bonding interaction, along with the point charges of the explicit solvent environment, leads to more significant polarization of CV + , with an increase in magnitude of the H-bonding nitrogen charge of 0.114e. To better understand the origin of this increased polarization, we analyzed the electric field at the CV + nitrogen due to the surrounding solvent environment, and found a substantial increase in the electric field upon formation of the axial bond, with the majority of the electric field being aligned with the π-system of the chromophore, see Figure .