Molecular Interactions of Nucleic Acid Bases. A Review of Quantum-Chemical Studies

2003 ◽  
Vol 68 (12) ◽  
pp. 2231-2282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiří Šponer ◽  
Pavel Hobza
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Ab Initio ◽  
Molecular Interactions ◽  
Quantum Chemical ◽  
Density Functional ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Semiempirical Methods ◽  
Base Stacking ◽  
Dna And Rna ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

Ab initio quantum-chemical calculations with inclusion of electron correlation significantly contributed to our understanding of molecular interactions of DNA and RNA bases. Some of the most important findings are introduced in the present overview: structures and energies of hydrogen bonded base pairs, nature of base stacking, interactions between metal cations and nucleobases, nonplanarity of isolated nucleobases and other monomer properties, tautomeric equilibria of nucleobases, out-of-plane hydrogen bonds and amino acceptor interactions. The role of selected molecular interactions in nucleic acids is discussed and representative examples where these interactions occur are given. Also, accuracy of density functional theory, semiempirical methods, distributed multipole analysis and empirical potentials is commented on. Special attention is given to our very recent reference calculations on base stacking and H-bonding. Finally, we briefly comment on the relationship between advanced ab initio quantum-chemical methods and large-scale explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations of nucleic acids.

Evaluation of Chemotherapeutic Activity of the Selected Bases’ Analogues of Nucleic Acids Supported by ab initio Various Quantum Chemical Calculations

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Kawczak ◽  
Leszek Bober ◽  
Tomasz Bączek
Keyword(s):  
Biological Activity ◽  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Ab Initio ◽  
Quantum Chemical Calculations ◽  
Quantum Chemical ◽  
Structural Parameters ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Polarizable Continuum Model ◽  
Activity Data ◽  
Qsar Models

Background: Pharmacological and physicochemical classification of bases’ selected analogues of nucleic acids is proposed in the study. Objective: Structural parameters received by the PCM (Polarizable Continuum Model) with several types of calculation methods for the structures in vacuo and in the aquatic environment together with the huge set of extra molecular descriptors obtained by the professional software and literature values of biological activity were used to search the relationships. Methods: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) together with Factor Analysis (FA) and Multiple Linear Regressions (MLR) as the types of the chemometric approach based on semi-empirical ab initio molecular modeling studies were performed. Results: The equations with statistically significant descriptors were proposed to demonstrate both the common and differentiating characteristics of the bases' analogues of nucleic acids based on the quantum chemical calculations and biological activity data. Conclusion: The obtained QSAR models can be used for predicting and explaining the activity of studied molecules.

Quantum-Chemical Ab Initio Calculations on Inda- and Thallabenzene (C5H5In and C5H5Tl) and their Structural Isomers η5-C5H5In and η5-C5H5Tl

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 102
Author(s):  
Emma Persoon ◽  
Yuekui Wang ◽  
Gerhard Raabe
Keyword(s):  
Ab Initio ◽  
Quantum Chemical ◽  
Density Functional ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Normal Modes ◽  
Dft Method ◽  
Basis Sets ◽  
Triplet States ◽  
Structural Isomers ◽  
Td Dft

Quantum-chemical ab initio, time-independent, as well as time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations were performed on the so far elusive heterocycles inda- and thallabenzene (C5H5In and C5H5Tl), employing several different methods (MP2, CISD, CCSD, CCSD(T), BD, BD(T), QCISD, QCISD(T), CASSCF, DFT/B3LYP), effective core potentials, and different basis sets. While calculations on the MP2 level predict the ground states of the title compounds to be singlets with the first triplet states between 13 and 15 kcal mol−1 higher in energy, single point calculations with the QCISD(T), CCSD(T), and BD(T) methods at CCSD-optimized structures result in energy differences between the singlet and the triplet states in the range between 0.3 and 2.1 kcal mol−1 in favour of the triplet states. According to a CASSCF(8,8) calculation the triplets are also more stable by about 2.5–2.9 kcal mol−1. Calculations were also performed for the C5v-symmetric η5 structural isomers (cyclopentadienylindium, CpIn, and cyclopentadienylthallium, CpTl, Cp = C5H5) of the title compounds. At the highest level of theory employed in this study, C5H5In is between 79 and 88 kcal mol−1 higher in energy than CpIn, while this energy difference is even larger for thallabenzene where C5H5Tl is energetically between 94 and 102 kcal mol−1 above CpTl. In addition we report on the UV/vis spectra calculated with a TD-DFT method as well as on the spectra of the normal modes of C5H5In and C5H5Tl. Both types of spectra might facilitate identification of the title compounds eventually formed in photolysis or pyrolysis experiments.

scholarly journals Investigating Tunneling Controlled Chemical Reactions Through Ab-Initio Ring Polymer Molecular Dynamics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyang Li ◽  
Pengfei Huo
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Ab Initio ◽  
Chemical Reaction ◽  
Quantum Tunneling ◽  
Quantum Dynamics ◽  
Density Functional ◽  
Molecular System ◽  
Ring Polymer ◽  
Ring Polymer Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

<div>We use the ab-initio ring polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD) approach to investigate tunneling controlled reactions in methylhydroxycarbene. Nuclear tunneling effects enable molecules to overcome the barriers which can not be overcome classically. Under low-temperature conditions, intrinsic quantum tunneling effects canfacilitate the chemical reaction in a pathway that is neither favored thermodynamically nor kinetically. This</div><div>behavior is referred to as the tunneling controlled chemical reaction and regarded as the third paradigm of chemical</div><div>reaction controls. In this work, we use the ab-initio RPMD approach to incorporate the tunneling effects in our quantum dynamics simulations. The reaction kinetics of two competitive reaction pathways at various temperatures are investigated with the Kohn-Sham density functional theory (KS-DFT) on-the-fly molecular dynamics simulations and the ring polymer quantization of the nuclei. The reaction rate constants obtained here agree extremely well with the experimentally measured rates. We demonstrate the feasibility of using ab-initio RPMD rate calculations in a realistic molecular system, and provide an interesting and important example for future investigations on reaction mechanisms dominated by quantum tunneling effects.</div>

scholarly journals A Multi-Scale Modelling of Aggregation of TiO2 Nanoparticle Suspensions in Water

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Mancardi ◽  
Matteo Alberghini ◽  
Neus Aguilera-Porta ◽  
Monica Calatayud ◽  
Pietro Asinari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Titanium Dioxide ◽  
Density Functional ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Molecular Descriptors ◽  
Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles ◽  
Accurate Determination ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
Spherical Bead ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles have risen concerns about their possible toxicity and the European Food Safety Authority recently banned the use of TiO2 nano-additive in food products. Following the intent of relating nanomaterials atomic structure with their toxicity without having to conduct large scale experiments on living organisms, we investigate the aggregation of titanium dioxide nanoparticles using a multi-scale technique: starting from ab initio Density Functional Theory to get an accurate determination of the energetics and electronic structure, we switch to classical Molecular Dynamics simulations to calculate the Potential of Mean Force for the connection of two identical nanoparticles in water; the fitting of the latter by a set of mathematical equations is the key for the upscale. Lastly, we perform Brownian Dynamics simulations where each nanoparticle is a spherical bead. This coarsening strategy allows studying the aggregation of a few thousand nanoparticles. Applying this novel procedure, we find three new molecular descriptors, namely, the aggregation free energy and two numerical parameters used to correct the observed deviation from the aggregation kinetic described by the Smoluchowski theory. Molecular descriptors can be fed into QSAR models to predict the toxicity of a material knowing its physicochemical properties, without having to conduct large scale experiments on living organisms.

The Future

1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Tossell ◽  
David J. Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Ab Initio ◽  
Quantum Chemical ◽  
Force Fields ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Quantum Mechanical ◽  
Bond Lengths ◽  
Hartree Fock ◽  
Qualitative Level ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

In this final chapter, an attempt is made to provide an overview of the capabilities of quantum-mechanical methods at the present time, and to highlight the needs for future development and possible future applications of these methods, particularly in areas related to mineral structures, energetics, and spectroscopy. There is also a brief account of some new areas of application, specific directions for future research, and possible developments in the perception and use of quantum-mechanical approaches. The book ends with an epilog on the overall role of “theoretical geochemistry” in the earth and environmental sciences. The local structural characteristics of minerals such as Mg2SiO4, which contain only main-group elements, are reasonably well reproduced by ab initio Hartree-Fock-Roothaan (SCF) cluster calculations at the mediumbasis- set level. Calculations incorporating configuration interaction will inevitably follow and probably lead to somewhat better agreement with experiment. The most pressing needs in this area of study are for the development of systematic procedures for cluster selection and embedding, for a greater understanding of the results at a qualitative level, and for more widespread efficient application of the quantum-chemical results currently available. In the last area, substantial progress has already been made by Lasaga and Gibbs (1987), Sanders et al. (1984), Tsuneyuki et al. (1988), and others, who have used ab initio calculations to generate theoretical force fields which can then be used in molecular-dynamics simulations. If the characteristics of the resultant force fields can be understood at a first-principles level, then it may be possible to understand details of the simulated structures at the same level. Unfortunately, as regards a greater qualitative understanding of the quantum-mechanical calculations, little progress has been made. Rather old qualitative theories describe some aspects of bond-angle variation (Tossell, 1986), but no general model to interpret variations in bond lengths has been developed within either chemistry or geochemistry beyond the model of additive atomic (Slater) or ionic (Shannon and Prewitt) radii. Indeed, global theories of bond-length variations within an ab initio framework seem to be nonexistent. Nonetheless, quantum-chemical studies have shown the presence of intriguing systematics in bond lengths (Gibbs et al., 1987), which had been already noted empirically.

Equation of state of water based on the SCAN meta-GGA density functional

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 4626-4631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Zhao ◽  
Shuyi Shi ◽  
Huijuan Xie ◽  
Qiushuang Xu ◽  
Mingcui Ding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Equation Of State ◽  
Ab Initio ◽  
Molecular Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Density Functional ◽  
State Of Water ◽  
Water Based ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Better Than

By ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, the newly developed SCAN meta-GGA functional is proved better than the widely used PBE-GGA functional in describing the equation of state of water.

Quantum-Chemical Ab Initio Calculations on Ala-(C5H5Al) and Galabenzene (C5H5Ga)

2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 349-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Mersmann ◽  
Halima Mouhib ◽  
Matthias Baldofski ◽  
Gerhard Raabe
Keyword(s):  
Ab Initio ◽  
Quantum Chemical ◽  
Density Functional ◽  
Normal Modes ◽  
Closed Shell ◽  
Basis Sets ◽  
Moderate Intensity ◽  
Spectral Curves ◽  
Singlet States ◽  
Td Dft

1Quantum-chemical ab initio and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations employing various basis sets were used to elucidate the spatial as well as the electronic structure of C5H5Al () and C5H5Ga (2) (ala- and galabenzene). The lowest closed shell singlet states of both compounds were found to have a non-planar structure of CS symmetry with C-X-C bond angles of about 116° (MP2/6-311++G**) and 125° (CCSD/aug-cc-pVDZ). At approximately 103°, the corresponding angles of the lowest triplets are significantly smaller. The lowest triplet state of alabenzene is also non-planar (CS) at the MP2 level while optimization with the CCSD and the CASPT2 method resulted in planar structures with C2v symmetry. The corresponding state of galabenzene has C2v symmetry at all levels of optimization. The relative stability of the lowest closed shell singlet and the lowest triplet (ΔE(T1-S0)) state is small and its sign even strongly method-dependent. However, according to the highest levels of theory applied in this study the singlet states of both molecules are slightly lower in energy than the corresponding triplets with singlet/triplet gaps between about 0.5 and 5.8 kcal/mol in favour of the singlet states. Most of the applied methods give a slightly smaller splitting for ala- than for galabenzene. Independent of the applied method (TD-DFT/CAM-B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,3pd)//MP2/6- 311++G** or SAC-CI/6-31++G(3df,3pd)//MP2/6-311++G**), the general shape of the calculated UV/VIS spectral curves are quite similar for the lowest singlet states of ala- and galabenzene, and the same applies to the spectra of the normal modes. The calculated UV/VIS spectra of C5H5Al and C5H5Ga are featured by long wavelength bands of moderate intensity around 900 nm at the TD-DFT and between 1300 and 1500 nm at the SAC-CI level. According to both methods these bands are predominantly due to HOMO(π)→LUMO(σ*) transitions. The results of isodesmic bond separation reactions for the singlet states indicate some degree of stabilization due to delocalization in both of the title compounds. With our best values between 29 and 32 kcal/mol this stabilization appears to be only slightly less than the previously reported value for borabenzene (∼38 kcal/mol).

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