Analysis of a large data base of electrostatic potential derived atomic charges

A large data base of 6-31G*, MNDO, AM1, and PM3 electrostatic potential (ESP) derived point charges of amino acids and monosaccharides is analyzed. We find that MNDO correlates well with 6-31G* ESP derived point charges, while AM1 and PM3 do so quite poorly. Furthermore, scaling MNDO ESP derived point charges enhances the ability of MNDO to reproduce 6-31G* results. We used our data base to attempt to derive a 6-31G* transferable charge model at an atom-by-atom level. We find that it is simple to derive a transferable model for monosaccharides, but for the amino acids statistical difficulties make this a less attractive approach. The transferable charge model for the monosaccharides is slightly better than MNDO, but scaled MNDO charges perform significantly better than the transferable model. We also carried out a QMD simulation on the alanine dipeptide to assess the fluctuations that would be expected in atomic point charges during the course of an MD simulation. Relatively large charge fluctuations are observed and their impact on molecular simulation is addressed. © 1992 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.