Effect of base stacking on the acid-base properties of the adenine cation radical [A*+] in solution: ESR and DFT studies

In this study, the acid-base properties of the adenine cation radical are investigated by means of experiment and theory. Adenine cation radical (A*(+)) is produced by one-electron oxidation of dAdo and of the stacked DNA-oligomer (dA)6 by Cl2*(-) in aqueous glass (7.5 M LiCl in H2O and in D2O) and investigated by ESR spectroscopy. Theoretical calculations and deuterium substitution at C8-H and N6-H in dAdo aid in our assignments of structure. We find the pKa value of A*(+) in this system to be ca. 8 at 150 K in seeming contradiction to the accepted value of < or = 1 at ambient temperature. However, upon thermal annealing to > or = 160 K, complete deprotonation of A*(+) occurs in dAdo in these glassy systems even at pH ca. 3. A*(+) found in (dA)6 at 150 K also deprotonates on thermal annealing. The stability of A*(+) at 150 K in these systems is attributed to charge delocalization between stacked bases. Theoretical calculations at various levels (DFT B3LYP/6-31G*, MPWB95, and HF-MP2) predict binding energies for the adenine stacked dimer cation radical of 12 to 16 kcal/mol. Further DFT B3LYP/6-31G* calculations predict that, in aqueous solution, monomeric A*(+) should deprotonate spontaneously (a predicted pKa of ca. -0.3 for A*(+)). However, the charge resonance stabilized dimer AA*(+) is predicted to result in a significant barrier to deprotonation and a calculated pKa of ca. 7 for the AA*(+) dimer which is 7 pH units higher than the monomer. These theoretical and experimental results suggest that A*(+) isolated in solution and A*(+) in adenine stacks have highly differing acid-base properties resulting from the stabilization induced by hole delocalization within adenine stacks.     

Theoretical Study on the Tautomerization Reaction of Formamide to Formamidic Acid Encapsulated in a Nano-sized Molecular Container

The hybrid calculations with ONIOM(B3LYP/6-31G*:AM1) method were carried out on the tautomerization reaction of formamide to formamidic acid in the microcontainer-encapsulated state. The free-state tautomerization process was also investigated with B3LYP/6-31G**//B3LYP/6-31G* method for the purpose of comparison. Bare tautomerization, H2O-assisted(single-H2O or multiple-H2O) and self-assisted mechanisms were all taken into consideration for the encapsulated state. The results show that only bare tautomerization and single-H2O catalysis mechanisms are possible to the encapsulated for-mamide tautomerization owing to the container's size confinement effect. Geometrical changes in the complexed container and guest molecules are discussed to deeply understand the complex's structural properties. The bare tautomerization barrier in the encapsulated state increases by 23.826 kJ/mol, ac-counting for 12% of the corresponding total energy barrier in the free state, and the increased values for the single-H2O catalysis process are 12.958 kJ/mol, accounting for 16% of the corresponding total energy barrier, respectively. This finding suggests that the encapsulation can make the tautomerization process slightly difficult.     

Theoretical studies on the intramolecular hydrogen bond and tautomerism of 8-mercaptoquinoline in the gaseous phase and in solution using modern DFT methods

A theoretical quantum chemical study of the intramolecular hydrogen bonding interactions in 8-mercaptoquinoline has been carried out. Special attention has been paid to the rotation of S-H bond and intramolecular proton-transfer reactions. Therewith, the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p), B3LYP/6-31+G(2d,2p), MPW1K/6-311++G(d,p), MPW1K/6-31+G(2d,2p), BH&HLYP/6-311++G(d,p), and G96LYP/6-311++G(d,p) methods have been used. By means of the Onsager and PCM reaction field methods, the effects of solvent on hydrogen-bond energies, conformational equilibria, rotational barriers, and tautomerism in aqueous solution have been studied. These simulations were done at the MPW1K/6-311++G(d,p) and B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) levels. Natural-bond orbital analysis has been performed to study the intramolecular hydrogen bond (IHB) in the gaseous phase and in aqueous medium. The stability of forms under consideration in solution does not coincide with that in the gaseous phase, underlining a great importance of the electrostatic influence of solvent. Double-proton transfer in the prototropic tautomerization of 8-mercaptoquinoline, one water molecule complex in the gaseous phase and in solution, has been systematically studied. The double-proton transfer occurs concertedly and synchronously. The water-assisted tautomerization is kinetically less, but thermodynamically more favorable, compared to that of the single-proton transfer. As in the case with single-proton transfer, for water-assisted reaction, the tautomerization energies and barrier heights decrease with the increase in dielectric constant, which implies faster and more complete tautomerization of 8-mercaptoquinoline in a polar solvent.     

Oxo-hydroxy tautomerism of 5-fluorouracil: water-assisted proton transfer

Post-Hartree-Fock ab initio quantum chemical calculations were performed for 5-fluorouracil in the gas phase and in a three-water cluster. Full geometry optimizations of the 5-fluorouracil-water complexes were carried out at the MP2/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory. MP4/6-31+G(d,p)//MP2/6-31+G(d,p) and MP4/6-31++G(d,p)//MP2/6-31+G(d,p) single-point calculations were performed to obtain more accurate energies. In water solution, 5-fluorouracil exists mainly in the 2,4-dioxo form (A). We propose that the populations of the 2-hydroxy-4-oxo (B) and 4-hydroxy-2-oxo (D) tautomers are 1 x 10(-4)% and 3.9 x 10(-8)%, respectively, on the basis of the relative stabilities of the tautomers calculated at the MP4/6-31++G(d,p)//MP2/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory. A profound difference between isolated and hydrated 5-fluorouracil is noted for the height of the tautomerization barrier. In the absence of water, the process of proton transfer is very slow. The addition of water molecules decreases the barrier by 2.3 times, making the process much faster. The minimum energy path (MP2/6-31+G(d,p)) for water-assisted proton transfer in trihydrated 5-fluorouracil was followed. CNDO/S-CI calculations predict singlet pi-pi(*) electron transitions at 312 nm for B and at 318 nm for D. The fluorescence spectrum of 5-fluorouracil in water confirms the presence of the hydroxy tautomer.     

Ab initio study of gas phase and water-assisted tautomerization of maleimide and formamide

Maleimide serves as an important starting material in the synthesis of drugs and enzyme inhibitors. In the present paper, knowing the importance of tautomerization in maleimide for its drug action, potential energy surface of maleimide is studied and its tautomerization has been discussed and compared with tautomerization of formamide. Gas phase tautomerization of maleimide requires large amount of energy (23·21 kcal/mol) in comparison to formamide (15·05 kcal/mol) at HF/6-31+G* level. Thus making the proton transfer reaction a difficult process in gas phase. Water molecule lowers the energy barrier of tautomerization thus facilitating the tautomerization of maleimide to 5-hydroxy-pyrrol-2-one. Water assisted tautomerization of maleimide requires 19·60 kcal/mol energy at HF/6-31+G* and 17·63 kcal/mol energy at B3LYP/6-31+G* level, a decrease of 3·61 and 5·96 kcal/mol over gas phase tautomerization. Whereas, tautomerization of formamide requires 14·16 and 12·84 kcal/mol energy, a decrease of 0·89 and 2·01 kcal/mol energy over gas phase tautomerization at HF/6-31+G* and B3LYP/6-31+G* level, respectively. Water-assisted tautomerization in maleimide and formamide showed that difference in energy barrier reduces to 2·83 kcal/mol from 10·41 kcal/mol (in gas phase) at B3LYP level, which resulted that maleimide readily undergoes tautomerization in water molecule.     

Theoretical studies of proton-transfer reactions of 2-hydroxypyridine--(H2O)n (n = 0-2) in the ground and excited states

The potential energy profiles for proton-transfer reactions of 2-hydroxypyridine and its complexes with water were determined by MP2, CASSCF and MR-CI calculations with the 6-31G** basis set. The tautomerization reaction between 2-hydroxypyridine (2HP) and 2-pyridone (2PY) does not take place at room temperature because of a barrier of approximately 35 kcal/mol for the ground-state pathway. The water-catalyzed enol-keto tautomerization reactions in the ground state proceed easily through the concerted proton transfer, especially for the two-water complex. The S1 tautomerization between the 2HP and 2PY monomers has a barrier of 18.4 kcal/mol, which is reduced to 5.6 kcal/mol for the one-water complex and 6.4 kcal/mol for the two-water complex. The results reported here predict that the photoinduced tautomerization reaction between the enol and keto forms involves a cyclic transition state having one or two water molecules as a bridge.     

Theoretical Study on the Dark Oxidation Reaction Mechanism of Ethers

1 INTRODUCTION Ethers are a kind of organic compounds that are easily oxidized under the conditions of lacking light and any additional excitement. According to dif- ferent mechanisms, the oxidation reactions could be classified into two types: photooxidation reaction and dark oxidation reaction. The former is the reaction with excited state oxygen molecule (singlet state), while the latter is the reaction with ground state oxygen molecule (triple state) without illuminance or any exciter…     

An investigation of keto–enol tautomerism in N-vinyl-2-, and 3-pyrrolidinones using ab initio and density functional theory calculations

We investigated the protomeric tautomerism of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NV2P) and N-vinyl-3-pyrrolidinone (NV3P) molecules, and considered the three neutral tautomers for NV2P (1a, 1b, 1c) and the five for NV3P (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e). Full geometry optimizations were carried out at the HF/6-31G**, HF/6-31+G** and B3LYP/6-31+G** levels in the gas phase and in water. Additionally, single-point MP2/6-31+G** calculations were performed on the HF/6-31+G** optimized geometries. The tautomerization processes in water (=78.54) were studied using the self-consistent reaction field theory. According to our estimations, the tautomerization of NV2P and NV3P molecules are not strongly influenced by the polar solvents, the improvement of the basis set quality and the electron correlation effects in the gas phase and in water. The calculated relative free energies (ΔG) predict that 1a and 2a are the energetically preferred tautomers in the gas phase and in water.     

Density functional theory study of the reaction mechanism and energetics of the reduction of hydrogen peroxide by ebselen, ebselen diselenide, and ebselen selenol

Density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,3pd)//B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level have been performed to elucidate the mechanism and reaction energetics for the reduction of hydrogen peroxide by ebselen, ebselen diselenide, ebselen selenol, and their sulfur analogues. The effects of solvation have been included with the CPCM model, and in the case of the selenol anion reaction, diffuse functions were used on heavy atoms for the geometry optimizations and thermochemical calculations. The topology of the electron density in each system was investigated using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules, and a detailed interpretation of the electronic charge and population data as well as the atomic energies is presented. Reaction free energy barriers for the oxidation of ebselen, ebselen diselenide, and ebselen selenol are 36.8, 38.4, and 32.5 kcal/mol, respectively, in good qualitative agreement with experiment. It is demonstrated that the oxidized selenium atom is significantly destabilized in all cases and that the exothermicity of the reactions is attributed to the peroxide oxygen atoms via reduction. The lower barrier to oxidation exhibited by the selenol is largely due to entropic effects in the reactant complex.     

Curtin–Hammett principle: application to benzene oxide–oxepin tautomers

The very rapid benzene oxide/oxepin equilibrium plays an important role in the metabolism of benzene by cytochrome P450. Although it is the benzene oxide valence tautomer that is attacked by nucleophiles and rearranges to phenols in acidic media, it is the oxepin valence isomers that suffer one-electron oxidation. However, some other reactions are more competitive and also furnish useful illustrations of the Curtin–Hammett principle. For example, while oxepin and benzene oxide are comparable in energy, the only reaction product with maleic anhydride is the Diels–Alder adduct with benzene oxide. Density function theory (B3LYP/6-31G*) calculations are employed for study of three sets of benzene oxide/oxepin equilibria and Diels–Alder reactions with maleic anhydride and dimethylazodicarboxylate as well as epoxidation by dioxirane. Comparisons are made between theory and published experimental data.     

One-electron oxidation and reduction potentials of nitroxide antioxidants: a theoretical study

High-level ab initio calculations have been used to determine the oxidation and reduction potentials of a large number of nitroxides including derivatives of piperidine, pyrrolidine, isoindoline, and azaphenalene, substituted with COOH, NH2, NH3+, OCH3, OH, and NO2 groups, with a view to (a) identifying a low-cost theoretical procedures for the determination of electrode potentials of nitroxides and (b) studying the effect of substituents on these systems. Accurate oxidation and reduction potentials to within 40 mV (3.9 kJ mol(-1)) of experimental values were found using G3(MP2)-RAD//B3-LYP/6-31G(d) gas-phase energies and PCM solvation calculations at the B3-LYP/6-31G(d) level. For larger systems, an ONIOM method in which G3(MP2)-RAD calculations for the core are combined with lower-cost RMP2/6-311+G(3df,2p) calculations for the full system, was able to approximate G3(MP2)-RAD values (to within 1.6 kJ mol(-1)) at a fraction of the computational cost. The overall ring structure has more effect on the electrode potentials than the inclusion of substituents. Azaphenalene derivatives display the lowest oxidation potentials and least negative reduction potentials and are thus the most promising target to function as antioxidants in biological systems. Piperidine and pyrrolidine derivatives have intermediate oxidation potentials but on average pyrrolidine derivatives display more negative reduction potentials. Isoindoline derivatives show higher oxidation potentials and more negative reduction potentials. Within a ring, the substituents have a relatively small effect with electron donating groups such as amino and hydroxy groups stabilizing the oxidized species and electron withdrawing groups such as carboxy groups stabilizing the reduced species, as expected.     

On the keto-enol tautomerization of malonaldehyde: an effective fragment potential study

Recent studies have mapped the keto-enol tautomerization of malonaldehyde through a general transition structure that leads exclusively to the Z isomer of the enol. However, it will be shown that a competing general transition structure exists that leads to both the E and Z isomers of the enol at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) and MP2/6-31G(d,p) levels of theory. Both the RHF- and DFT-based effective fragment potential methods have been used to model solvation effects, and the results are compared with full ab initio calculations. It is found that two bridging water molecules with two discrete DFT-based effective fragment potential solvent waters at the MP2/6-31G(d,p) level of ab initio theory provides the most computationally effective model for solvent effects in this system. It is shown that the relative energies for this QM/MM model differ from the full MP2/6-31G(d,p) energies by an average absolute relative difference of 2.2 kcal mol-1 across the reaction path when the zero-point vibrational energy correction is included.     

The role of aromaticity in the planarity of lumiflavin

Ab initio MP2/6-31G(d,p) and density functional theory B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) calculations were performed to investigate the molecular structure of the active part of flavins in the oxidized and reduced forms, using lumiflavin as a model compound. The possible aromatic character of these systems was explored by using the following aromaticity indexes: nucleus-independent chemical shifts, the anisotropy of the magnetic susceptibility, the Bird index, and natural bond orbital analysis. To provide further insight, calculations on the 2+ charged species were also carried out. Both the MP2 and B3LYP computations predict a planar conformation for the oxidized form and a bent structure for the reduced form, in agreement with previous experience. For both the oxidized and reduced states, ring A is found to be the most aromatic, as expected. The calculations suggest that the folding in the reduced form is mainly a result of electronic preferences rather than steric hindrance.     

Generation of neutrals from ionic precursors in the gas phase. The rearrangement of CCCCCHO to HCCCCCO

The neutrals HCCCCCO and CCCCCHO have been studied by experiment and by molecular modelling at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVDZ//B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. Neutral HCCCCCO has been made by one-electron reduction of [HCCCCCO]+ in the dual collision cell of a VG ZAB 2HF mass spectrometer. The isomer CCCCCHO is also formed in the dual collision cell, but this time by one-electron oxidation of the anion [CCCCCHO]-. Comparison of the CID and +NR+ mass spectra of [HCCCCCO]+ indicates that neutral HCCCCCO, when energised, retains its structural integrity. If the excess energy of HCCCCCO is > or = 170 kJ mol-1, decomposition can occur to give HCCCC and CO (calculations at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVDZ//B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory). The situation with the isomer CCCCCHO is different. Comparison of the -CR+ and -NR+ spectra of [CCCCCHO]- shows that both neutral and cationic forms of CCCCCHO partially rearrange to a species which decomposes by loss of CO. The peak corresponding to loss of CO is more pronounced in the -NR+ spectrum, indicating that the rearrangement is more prevalent for the neutral than the cation. Theoretical calculations suggest that the species losing CO could be CCCCHCO or HCCCCCO, but that HCCCCCO is the more likely. The lowest-energy rearrangement pathway occurs by successive H transfers, namely CCCCCHO-->CCCCHCO-->CCCHCCO-->HCCCCCO. The rearrangement of CCCCCHO to HCCCCCO requires CCCCCHO to have an excess energy of > or = 94 kJ mol-1. The species HCCCCCO formed by this exothermic sequence (214 kJ mol-1) has a maximum excess energy of 308 kJ mol-1: this is sufficient to effect decomposition to HCCCC and CO.     

Ab initio study of the atmospheric oxidation of CS2.

The reactions of OH with CS2, OCS, and 3SO and of 3O2 with CS2, SCSOH, and HOSO have been studied by optimizing minima and transition states with B3LYP/6-31+G(d) and carrying out higher-level ab initio calculations on fixed geometries. The combined calculations provide valuable insight into the mechanism for the atmospheric oxidation of CS2. The initial step is the formation of the SCSOH complex (1) which readily adds molecular oxygen to form the SC(OO)SOH complex (8). A key step is the oxygen atom transfer to the sulfur bearing the hydroxyl group which leads directly to OCS plus HOSO. The HOSO + 3O2 reaction has a near zero calculated activation barrier so generation of O2H + SO2 should proceed readily in the atmosphere.     

Density functional theory predicts the barriers for radical fragmentation in solution

[reaction: see text] N-Methoxypyridyl radicals formed by one-electron reduction of the corresponding cationic heterocycles undergo N-O bond cleavage. Experimental activation free energies for a series of these bond fragmentations are compared to corresponding barriers determined from electronic structure calculations. The DFT barriers agree well with those from experiment, being smaller than the latter values by an average value of ca. 1 kcal/mol, for rate constants varying over almost 3 orders of magnitude, or within ca. 3 kcal/mol over 8 orders of magnitude of rate constant. For a model compound, the B3PW91/6-31+G hybrid density functional method is also found to be in good agreement with the MCSCF-MRMP2 method. One of the reactions is found by DFT to have no minimum for the reactant radical, consistent with a truly barrierless reaction.     

Theoretical study of the energetics of the reactions of triplet dioxygen with hydroquinone, semiquinone, and their protonated forms: relation to the mechanism of superoxide generation in the respiratory chain

One-electron reduction of the dioxygen molecule by the reduced form of mitochondrial ubiquinones (Q) of the NADH dehydrogenase (complex I) and mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 (complex III) is believed to be the main source of the superoxide anion radical O2*- and the hydroperoxide radical OOH*. In this work, we modeled the energetics of four possible reactions of the triplet ((3)Sigma(g)) dioxygen-molecule reduction by fully reduced and protonated ubiquinone (QH2; reaction 1), its deprotonated form (QH-; reaction 2), the semiquinone radical (QH*; reaction 3), and the semiquinone anion radical (Q*-; reaction 4), by means of ab initio calculations with the 6-31G(d) and 6-31+G(d) basis set in the restricted open-shell Hartree-Fock (ROHF), unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF), and complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) with dynamic correlation [at the second-order M?ller-Plesset (MP2) or multiple reference M?ller-Plesset (MRMP), respectively] schemes and the basis set superposition error (BSSE) correction included, as well as semiempirical AM1 and PM3 calculations in the UHF and ROHF schemes. 2-Butene-1,4-dione and p-benzoquinone were selected as model compounds. For the reduced forms of both compounds, reaction 1 turned out to be energetically unfavorable at all levels of theory, this agreeing with the experimentally observed diminished reductive properties of hydroquinone derivatives at low pH. For 2-butene-1,4-dione treated at the most advanced MRMP/CASSCF/6-31+G(d) level, the energies of reactions 1-4 are 4.7, -34.3, -15.0, and -4.1 kcal/mol, respectively. This finding suggests that reactions 2 and 3 are the most likely mechanisms of electron transfer to molecular oxygen in aprotic environments and that proton transfer is involved in this process. Nearly the same energies of reactions 2 and 3 were calculated at the MRMP/CASSCF/6-31+G(d) level for reduced forms of p-benzoquinone. Inclusion of diffuse functions in the basis set and dynamic correlation at the CASSCF level appears essential. Because deprotonated ubiquinol is unlikely to exist in physiological environments, reaction 3 appears to be the most likely mechanism of one-electron reduction of oxygen; however, if oxygen can penetrate cytochrome bc1 as far as the Q(o) center where ubiquinol can be deprotonated, reaction 2 can also come into play. The energies of reactions 2 and 3 calculated at the MRMP/CASSCF/6-31+G(d) level are most closely reproduced in the ab initio and semiempirical UHF PM3 calculations. Additional semiempirical calculations on more realistic models of ubiquinone, 2,3-dimethoxy-6-methyl-p-benzoquinone and 2,3-dimethoxy-5-isoprenyl-6-methyl-p-benzoquinone, gave qualitatively the same relations between the energies of reactions 2 and 3 as those carried out for p-benzoquinone species, thereby suggesting that this method could be used in studying electron-transfer reactions from reduced quinone derivatives to molecular oxygen in more complex systems, such as a model of the Q(o) site of cytochrome bc1, where applying ab initio methods is unfeasible.     

过充电保护添加剂1,4-二甲氧基苯的反应机理

采用密度泛函理论(B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p))和MP2/6-311+G(d,p)方法,研究锂离子电池过充电保护添加剂1,4-二甲氧基苯(p-DMOB)的作用机理.计算结果表明,在过充时,p-DMOB优先于溶剂分子(乙基甲基碳酸酯、二甲基碳酸酯、碳酸乙酯)发生氧化反应.用B3LYP和MP2计算所得的p-DMOB理论氧化电位接近,分别为4.12和4.05V(vsLi/Li+).p-DMOB氧化时首先失去一个电子,生成p-DMOB+·正离子自由基,用B3LYP和MP2方法计算所得的相应能量变化分别为701.24和728.27kJ·mol-1.失去电子后苯环的共轭性受到破坏,随后p-DMOB+·苯环上的C―H键发生断裂,失去H+并形成p-DMOB·自由基.用B3LYP和MP2方法计算所得的相应能量变化分别为1349.78和1810.99kJ·mol-1.p-DMOB·自由基很不稳定,会在电极表面发生聚合反应形成聚合物膜,用B3LYP和MP2方法计算所得的相应能量变化分别为-553.37和-1331.20kJ·mol-1.     

Conformational stability, vibrational assignmenents, barriers to internal rotations and ab initio calculations of 2-aminophenol (d 0 and d3)

The Raman (3700-100 cm(-1)) and infrared (4000-400 cm(-1)) spectra of solid 2-aminophenol (2AP) have been recorded. The internal rotation of both OH and NH2 moieties produce ten conformers with either Cs or C1 symmetry. However, the calculated energies as well as the imaginary vibrational frequencies reduce rotational isomerism to five isomers. The molecular geometry has been optimized without any constraints using RHF, MP2 and B3LYP levels of theory at 6-31G(d), 6-311+G(d) and 6-31++G(d,p) basis sets. All calculations predict 1 (cis; OH is directed towards NH2) to be the most stable conformation except RHF/6-31++G(d,p) basis set. The 1 (cis) isomer is found to be more stable than 8 (trans; OH is away from the NH2 moiety and the NH bonds are out-of-plane) by 1.7 kcal/mol (598 cm(-1)) as obtained from MP2/6-31G(d) calculations. Aided by experimental and theoretical vibrational spectra, cis and trans 2AP are coexist in solution but cis isomer is more likely present in the crystalline state. Aided by MP2 and B3LYP frequency calculations, molecular force fields, simulated vibrational spectra utilizing 6-31G(d) basis set as well as normal coordinate analysis, complete vibrational assignments for HOC6H4NH2 and DOC6H4ND2 have been proposed. Furthermore, we carried out potential surface scan, to determine the barriers to internal rotations of NH2 and OH groups. All results are reported herein and compared with similar molecules when appropriate.