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In this proof-of-concept paper, we show how exchange-correlation effects can be simply recovered for interatomic energies within the interacting quantum atoms decomposition when local, gradient generalized, or meta-gradient generalized approximations are used in density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We also demonstrate how inhomogeneity and non-local effects can be introduced even from a pure local scheme, without resorting to any orbital information. Finally, we provide numerical evidence on a database of selected energetic molecules that this decomposition scheme can be efficiently used to build accurate models for the prediction of molecular energies from an initial "cheap" DFT calculation.
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The evaluation of oxidation and reduction potentials is a pivotal task in various chemical fields. However, their accurate prediction by theoretical computations, which is a complementary task and sometimes the only alternative to experimental measurement, may be often resource-intensive and time-consuming. This paper addresses this challenge through the application of machine learning techniques, with a particular focus on graph-based methods (such as graph edit distances, graph kernels, and graph neural networks) that are reviewed to enlighten their deep links with theoretical chemistry. To this aim, we establish the ORedOx159 database, a comprehensive, homogeneous (with reference values stemming from density functional theory calculations), and reliable resource containing 318 one-electron reduction and oxidation reactions and featuring 159 large organic compounds. Subsequently, we provide an instructive overview of the good practice in machine learning and of commonly utilized machine learning models. We then assess their predictive performances on the ORedOx159 dataset through extensive analyses. Our simulations using descriptors that are computed in an almost instantaneous way result in a notable improvement in prediction accuracy, with mean absolute error (MAE) values equal to 5.6 kcal mol - 1 $$ {}^{-1} $$ for reduction and 7.2 kcal mol - 1 $$ {}^{-1} $$ for oxidation potentials, which paves a way toward efficient in silico design of new electrochemical systems.
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Conceptual density functional theory (CDFT) and the quantum reactivity descriptors stemming from it have proven to be valuable tools for understanding the chemical behavior of molecules. This article is presented as being intrinsically of dual character. In a first part, it briefly reviews, in a deliberately didactical way, the main ensembles in CDFT, while the second half presents two additional ensembles, where the chemical hardness acts as a natural variable, and their respective reactivity descriptors. The evaluation of these reactivity descriptors on common organic chemical reagents are presented and discussed.
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Identifying the main physicochemical properties accounting for the course of a reaction is of utmost importance to rationalize chemical syntheses. To this aim, the relative energy gradient (REG) method is an appealing approach because it is an unbiased and automatic process to extract the most relevant pieces of energy information. Initially formulated within the interacting quantum atoms (IQA) framework for a single reaction, here we extend the REG method to natural bond orbitals (NBO) analysis and to the case of two competitive processes. This development enables the determination of the driving forces of any chemical selectivity. We illustrate the extended REG method on the case study of ring opening in cyclobutenes, which is an important instance of the so-called torquoselectivity.
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Aza-Michael additions are key reactions in organic synthesis. We investigate, from a theoretical and computational point of view, several examples ranging from weak to strong electrophiles in dimethylsulfoxide treated as explicit solvent. We use the REG-IQA method, which is a quantum topological energy decomposition (Interacting Quantum Atoms, IQA) coupled to a chemical-interpretation calculator (Relative Energy Gradient, REG). We focus on the rate-limiting addition step in order to unravel the different events taking place in this step, and understand the influence of solvent on the reaction, with an eye on predicting the Mayr electrophilicity. For the first time, a link is established between an REG-IQA analysis and experimental values.
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Proteins are able to irreversibly assemble biologically active ligands from building blocks bearing complementary reactive functions due their spatial proximity, through a kinetic target-guided synthetic process (also named inâ situ click chemistry). Although linkages thus formed are mostly passive, some of them have shown to significantly contribute to the protein binding through for instance hydrogen bonding and stacking interactions. Biocompatible reactions and click chemistry are a formidable source of inspiration for developing such new protein-directed ligations. This study reports a proximity-induced thiol-yne synthesis of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Not only this example widens the arsenal of kinetic target-guided synthesis (KTGS) eligible reactions, but the obtained product displayed unsuspected photophysical properties. The corresponding vinyl sulfide linkage conjugated to a coumarin core proved to be engaged in a monodirectional Z to E photoisomerization process. Further investigations guided by theoretical calculations showed that fine-tuning of the nature of the substituents on the coumarin moiety allows to obtain a bidirectional photochemical process, thus discovering a new photoswitching moiety, displaying moreover fluorescence properties. Due to the spectral tunability of coumarin derivatives, this work should open new opportunities for the design of vinyl sulfide-based photoswitch systems with modular photophysical properties.
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Metaloproteínas , Compostos de Sulfidrila , Compostos de Sulfidrila/química , Corantes Fluorescentes , Química Click , CumarínicosRESUMO
Electronic effects (inductive and mesomeric) are of fundamental importance to understand the reactivity and selectivity of a molecule. In this article, polarisation temperature is used as a principal index to describe how electronic effects propagate in halogeno-alkanes and halogeno-alkenes. It is found that as chain length increases, polarisation temperature decreases. As expected, polarisation is much larger for alkenes than for alkanes. Finally, the polarisation mode of the carbon-fluorine bond is found to be quite different and might explain the unusual reactivity of fluoride compounds.
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Electronic circular dichroism is one of the most used spectroscopic techniques for peptide and protein structural characterization. However, while valuable experimental spectra exist for α-helix, ß-sheet and random coil secondary structures, previous studies showed important discrepancies for ß-turns, limiting their use as a reference for structural studies. In this paper, we simulated circular dichroism spectra for the best-characterized ß-turns in peptides, namely types I, II, I' and II'. In particular, by combining classical molecular dynamics simulations and state-of-the-art quantum time-dependent density functional theory (with the polarizable embedding multiscale model) computations, two common electronic circular dichroism patterns were found for couples of ß-turn types (namely, type I/type II' and type II/type I'), at first for a minimal di-peptide model (Ace-Ala-Ala-NHMe), but also for all sequences tested with non-aromatic residues in the central positions. On the other hand, as expected, aromatic substitution causes important perturbations to the previously found ECD patterns. Finally, by applying suitable approximations, these patterns were subsequently rationalized based on the exciton chirality rule. All these results provide useful predictions and pave the way for a possible experimental characterization of ß-turns based on circular dichroism spectroscopy.
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Dicroísmo Circular , Química Computacional , Simulação de Dinâmica Molecular , Simulação por Computador , Conformação Proteica em Folha beta , Estrutura Terciária de ProteínaRESUMO
We assess the ability of various atomic and molecular electrophilicity descriptors to predict the strength of halogen bonds. To this aim, several physicochemical quantities rooted within the framework of conceptual density functional theory were derived using second and third order Taylor expansions of the electronic energy, and their correlation to binding energies were compared with those obtained for more usual electronic descriptors. This benchmark was performed for a large and representative database of noncovalent complexes involving fluorine, chlorine, and bromine atoms, and showed that some of these new quantities, in particular the atomic cubic electrophilicity index, exhibited more transferability and broadness of application than did more common descriptors such as the molecular electrostatic potential.
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The paper collects the answers of the authors to the following questions: Is the lack of precision in the definition of many chemical concepts one of the reasons for the coexistence of many partition schemes? Does the adoption of a given partition scheme imply a set of more precise definitions of the underlying chemical concepts? How can one use the results of a partition scheme to improve the clarity of definitions of concepts? Are partition schemes subject to scientific Darwinism? If so, what is the influence of a community's sociological pressure in the "natural selection" process? To what extent does/can/should investigated systems influence the choice of a particular partition scheme? Do we need more focused chemical validation of Energy Decomposition Analysis (EDA) methodology and descriptors/terms in general? Is there any interest in developing common benchmarks and test sets for cross-validation of methods? Is it possible to contemplate a unified partition scheme (let us call it the "standard model" of partitioning), that is proper for all applications in chemistry, in the foreseeable future or even in principle? In the end, science is about experiments and the real world. Can one, therefore, use any experiment or experimental data be used to favor one partition scheme over another? © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Teoria Quântica , Termodinâmica , HumanosRESUMO
In this paper we show a theoretical rational design approach on a series of intrinsically fluorescent analogues of cholesterol (FLACs), called polyene-sterols (P-sterols), followed by a step-by-step selection of potential candidates, employing, sequentially, state-of-the-art quantum mechanical (QM) computations of the optical properties (single- and multiphoton absorption electronic spectroscopies and emission), molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in model membranes, and multiscale approaches (polarizable embedding). This selection converged to a promising candidate that shows simultaneously interesting single- and multiphoton absorption properties as well as emitting properties and good abilities to mimic cholesterol order effects in model membranes.
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Colesterol/análogos & derivados , Simulação de Dinâmica Molecular , Esteróis/química , Fluorescência , Membranas Artificiais , Teoria QuânticaRESUMO
The fragile intermediates of the domino process leading to an isoxazolidin-5-one, triggered by unique reactivity between Meldrum's acid and an N-benzyl nitrone in the presence of a Brønsted base, were determined thanks to the softness and accuracy of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry coupled to ion mobility spectrometry (ESI-IMS-MS). The combined DFT study shed light on the overall organocatalytic sequence that starts with a stepwise (3+2) annulation reaction that is followed by a decarboxylative protonation sequence encompassing a stereoselective pathway issue.
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Cholesterol is doubtless one of the most studied bio-molecules, which unfortunately features low emitting properties, precluding its in vivo study by fluorescence experiments. The design of fluorescent analogues of cholesterol is thus an appealing challenge in biochemistry, which simultaneously requires minor changes in its chemical structure (to retain main biological properties) and considerable enhancement of light emission. To this aim, the photochemical behaviour of the native molecule has to be deeply understood. In this work, we focused our attention on the electronic absorption of cholesterol in several common organic solutions, combining experimental (through ultraviolet-visible and electronic circular dichroism spectroscopy) and theoretical approaches (at the time-dependent density functional theory level) in order to solve the important discrepancies previously reported in the literature on the maximum absorption wavelengths and on the nature (Rydberg and/or π â π*) of the associated electronic transition.
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We discuss two main approaches to decompose the Møller-Plesset perturbation theory molecular energies into atomic contributions within the interacting quantum atoms (IQA) formalism, as implemented in the programs Morphy and AIMAll. For this purpose, the so-called intraatomic energies (also known as self-energies) of a representative set of 55 small molecules are compared with each other. The origin of the possible discrepancies between both approaches is analyzed, and linear models linking the two approaches are proposed for each atom type.
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Herein, we discuss three methods to partition the total molecular energy into additive atomic contributions within the framework of Bader's atoms-in-molecules theory and in the particular context of Kohn-Sham density functional theory. The first method is derived from the virial theorem, whereas the two other schemes, termed "standard" and "model", are based on Pendás' interacting-quantum-atoms decomposition. The methods are then compared for a dataset of molecules of interest for direct application in organic chemistry and biochemistry. Finally, the relevance of the three methods for the prediction of intrinsic reactivity properties (e.g., electrophilicity) or for unravelling the nature of chemical bonding (e.g., in halogen bonds, beyond the pure electrostatic point of view), is examined and paves the way for their more systematic use for the inâ silico design of new reactants.
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The idea that hydrogen bond cooperativity is responsible for the structure and reactivity of carbohydrates is examined. Density functional theory and gauge-including atomic orbital calculations on the known conformers of the α and ß anomers of d-glucopyranose in the gas phase are used to compute proton NMR chemical shifts and interatomic distances, which are taken as criteria for probing intramolecular interactions. Atom-atom interaction energies are calculated by the interacting quantum atoms approach in the framework of the quantum theory of atoms in molecules. Association of OH1 in the counterclockwise conformers with a strong acceptor, pyridine, is accompanied by cooperative participation from OH2, but there is no significant change in the bonding of the two following 1,2-diol motifs. The OH6... O5 (G-g+/cc/t and G+g-/cc/t conformers) or OH6... O4 (Tg+/cc/t conformer) distance is reduced, and the OH6 proton is slightly deshielded. In the latter case, this shortening and the associated increase in the OH6-O4 interaction energy may be interpreted as a small cooperative effect, but intermolecular interaction energies are practically the same for all three conformers. In most of the pyridine complexes, one ortho proton interacts with the endocyclic oxygen O5. Analogous results are obtained when the clockwise conformer, G-g+/cl/g-, detected for the α anomer, and a hypothetical conformer, Tt/cl/g-, are complexed with pyridine through OH6. Generally, the cooperative effect does not go beyond the first two OH groups of a chain. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Glucose/química , Espectroscopia de Ressonância Magnética , Teoria Quântica , Glucofosfatos/química , Ligação de Hidrogênio , Conformação Molecular , Estrutura MolecularRESUMO
In this paper, we show that trans effects in octahedral complexes can primarily be related to differences in the ability, for a given ligand, to cede electron density to the metal cation under the influence of the ligand at the trans position. Using tools from conceptual DFT or from related paradigms, we highlight these effects on a set of representative examples and further provide the basis for a computational trans effect scale. This quantification notably retrieves the experimental trans orienting series.
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Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) shifts of the free diol and of its 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 hydrogen-bonded complexes with pyridine have been computed for five symmetrical alkane diols on the basis of density functional theory, by applying the gauge-including atomic orbital method to geometry-optimized conformers. For certain conformers, intramolecular OH···OH interactions, evidenced by high NMR OH proton shifts, are further enhanced on going from the free diol to the corresponding 1 : 1 diol/pyridine complex. This is confirmed by atoms-in-molecules and non-covalent interaction plots. The computed OH and CH proton shifts for the diol and the two complexes correlate well with values obtained by analysing data from the NMR titration of the diols in benzene against pyridine. Shift values for the diols in neat pyridine are calculated by weighting the shifts of the various protons in the three forms (free diol, 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 diol/pyridine complexes) according to the experimentally determined association constants. The results are in good agreement with those observed, and after empirical scaling, the root mean square difference is 0.18 ppm. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Translating local electro/nucleophilicities into the language of reactive sites is an appealing theoretical challenge that could be conducive to strengthen the collaborative dialogue between experimentalists and quantum chemists. The usual schemes for such condensation, relying on atomic charges, may however lead to important information loss, due to a sometimes inappropriate averaging of the reactivity anisotropy. In this article, we present instead an approach based on the dual descriptor Δf, which aims at partitioning real space into nonoverlapping reactive domains that feature a constant Δf sign. This strategy enables not only to identify the nucleo/electrophilic regions inside a molecule but also to quantify meaningful properties (mean value, volume, electron population ). Its interest is then illustrated on two specific chemical problems: the measure of σ-holes in the context of halogen bonds, and of the electrophilicity of organic carbocations, casting the light on the versatility of this method.
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In this study, we present an atomic decomposition, in principle exact, at any point on a given reaction path, of the molecular energy, reaction force and reaction flux, which is based on Bader's atoms-in-molecules theory and on Pendás' interacting quantum atoms scheme. This decomposition enables the assessment of the importance and the contribution of each atom or molecular group to these global properties, and may cast the light on the physical factors governing bond formation or bond breaking. The potential use of this partition is finally illustrated by proton transfers in model biological systems.