Lennard-Jones Parameters for B3LYP/CHARMM27 QM/MM Modeling of Nucleic Acid Bases.

Combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methods allow computations on chemical events in large molecular systems. Here, we have tested the suitability of the standard CHARMM27 forcefield Lennard-Jones van der Waals (vdW) parameters for the treatment of nucleic acid bases in QM/MM calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p)-CHARMM27 level. Alternative parameters were also tested by comparing the QM/MM hydrogen bond lengths and interaction energies with full QM [B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p)] results. The optimization of vdW parameters for nucleic acid bases is challenging because of the likelihood of multiple hydrogen bonds between the nucleic acid base and a water molecule. Two sets of optim…