Search results for "Molecular Mechanics"
showing 10 items of 55 documents
Exploring the Chemoselectivity towards Cysteine Arylation by Cyclometallated Au III Compounds: New Mechanistic Insights
2020
To gain more insight into the factors controlling the efficient cysteine arylation by cyclometalated Au(III) complexes, the reaction between selected gold compounds and different peptides was investigated by high‐resolution liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HR‐LC‐ESI‐MS). The deducted mechanisms of C–S cross‐coupling, also supported by density functional theory (DFT) and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations, evidenced the key role of secondary peptidic gold binding sites in favouring the process of reductive elimination.
2019
The DNA-binding of the natural benzophenanthridine alkaloid chelerythrine (CHE) has been assessed by combining molecular modeling and optical absorption spectroscopy. Specifically, both double-helical (B-DNA) and G-quadruplex sequences—representative of different topologies and possessing biological relevance, such as telomeric or regulatory sequences—have been considered. An original multiscale protocol, making use of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations, allowed us to compare the theoretical and experimental circular dichroism spectra of the different DNA topologies, readily providing atomic-level details of the CHE–DNA binding…
Mechanistic study of the biosynthesis of R-phenylcarbinol by acetohydroxyacid synthase enzyme using hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simu…
2021
Abstract The biosynthesis of R-phenylacetylcarbinol (R-PAC) by the acetohydroxy acid synthase, (AHAS) is addressed by molecular dynamics simulations (MD), hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM), and QM/MM free energy calculations. The results show the reaction starts with the nucleophilic attack of the C2α atom of the HEThDP intermediate on the Cβ atom of the carbonyl group of benzaldehyde substrate via the formation of a transition state (TS1) with the HEThDP intermediate under 4′-aminopyrimidium (APH+) form. The calculated activation free energy for this step is 17.4 kcal mol−1 at 27 °C. From this point, the reaction continues with the abstraction of Hβ atom of the HEThDP in…
A quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics study of the acylation reaction of TEM1 β-lactamase and penicillanate
2000
The acylation step in β-lactamase catalyzed hydrolysis of β-lactams has been explored by means of a quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics approach (AM1/CHARMM). The TEM1 enzyme, a class A β-lactamase, and the penicillanate constitute the system employed in our study. The entire molecular system is divided into a quantum and a classical region: the quantum part is composed by the substrate, the serine Ser70 and the essential moieties of key active site residues, Lys73, Ser130 and Glu166, as well as a water molecule present in the active site region, while the classical part is formed by the remaining residues and structural waters of the enzyme. In particular, the sequence of steps proposed …
3-Vinyl-1H-indoles: A conformational study, electronic aspects and reactivity predictions forDiels-Alder reactions
1995
On the basis of X-ray geometries, a theoretical conformational study of some 3-vinyl-1H-indoles was performed with quantum chemistry and molecular mechanics programs. Charge, frontier orbitals, and the molecular electrostatic potential derived from quantum chemistry calculations of 3-vinyl-1H-indoles are reliable reactivity parameters to predict the outcome of theDiels-Alder reaction.
Tracking Changes in Protonation and Conformation during Photoactivation of a Phytochrome Protein
2016
Phytochromes are photosensor proteins in plants and bacteria. The biological response is mediated by structural changes that follow photon absorption in the protein complex. The initial step is the photoisomerization of the biliverdin chromophore. How this leads to large-scale structural changes of the whole complex is, however, poorly understood. In this work, we use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the structural changes after isomerization. In particular, we perform MD simulations at constant pH, using a recently developed method, to explore the effect of chromophore isomerization on the protonation (pKa) of nearby residues. In addition, we use a hybrid quantum mechanic…
Solving Chemical Problems with a Mixture of Quantum-Mechanical and Molecular Mechanics Calculations: Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013
2013
Exploring Chemical Reactivity in Enzyme Catalyzed Processes Using QM/MM Methods: An Application to Dihydrofolate Reductase
2015
Enzymes are the catalysts used by living organisms to accelerate chemical processes under physiological conditions. In this chapter, we illustrate the current view about the origin of their extraordinary rate enhancement based on molecular simulations and, in particular, on methods based on the combination of Quantum Mechanics and Molecular Mechanics potentials which provide a solution to treat the chemical reactivity of these large and complex molecular systems. Computational studies on Dihydrofolate Reductase have been selected as a conductor wire to present the evolution and difficulties to model chemical reactivity in enzymes. The results discussed here show that experimental observatio…
LOCAL STRUCTURE OF THE CuCu (EDTA) (H2O)2, 2H2O AMORPHOUS COMPLEX : A JOINT MAGNETIC, LAXS, AND MOLECULAR MECHANICS INVESTIGATION
1985
The short range order in the amorphous CuCu (EDTA) (H2O)2, 2H2O is studied by Large Angle X-ray Scattering (LAXS) and molecular mechanics. Three conformations of the complex molecule are shown to be energetically equivalent, two of which are simultaneously present in the amorphous material.
Does glycosyl transfer involve an oxacarbenium intermediate? Computational simulation of the lifetime of the methoxymethyl cation in water
2011
2D free-energy surfaces for transfer of the methoxymethyl cation between two water molecules are constructed from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in which these atoms are treated quantum-mechanically within a box of 1030 classical solvent water molecules at 300 K. This provides a simple model for glycosyl transfer in water. The AM1/TIP3P surfaces with 2D-spline corrections at either MPWB1K/6-31+G(d,p) or MP2/6-31+G(d,p) contain a shallow free-energy well corresponding to an oxacarbenium ion intermediate in a DN*AN mechanism. MD analysis at three temperatures leads to a classical estimate of the lifetime of the methoxymethyl cation in water; when quantum corrections for vibrational zero-…