Calculations of dissociation constants of carboxylic acids by empirical and quantum-chemical DFT methods

Dissociation constants of 15 carboxylic acids in water, methanol, and DMSO were calculated by empirical and quantum-chemical DFT methods. The maximal error of the empirical calculation was 1.4%. A comparative analysis of the results obtained was carried out.     

Calculations of pKa values of carboxylic acids in aqueous solution using Möller-Plesset perturbation theory

The acidity constants of some carboxylic acids in aqueous solution have been calculated. The calculations were carried out using Möller-Plesset (MP) perturbation theory. The Polarizable Continuum Model (PCM) is used to describe the solvent. This model furnishes pK_a values that agree more closely with experimental data than those obtained at the level of Hartree-Fock (HF) and Density Functional Theory (DFT-B3LYP). The root-mean-square of errors of the calculated pK_a values are less than 1.0 for the studied acids. The molecules analyzed consist of acids with pK_a values in the range of 1.30 to 5.05, and have been partitioned into three classes. Class I includes acids with pK_a values higher than 4.00. Class II includes strong acids with pK_a values between 3.00 to 4.00. Class III includes very strong acids with pK_a values less than 3.00. The calculated pK_a values for the acids in Class I and Class II agree more closely with experimental values. The root-mean-square of errors for the Class I and Class II compounds are 0.70 and 0.78 pK_a units, respectively.     

Prediction of pKa values of nido-carboranes by density functional theory methods

A great parallel exists between metal complexes of cyclopentadienyl and arene ligands on one side and metal complexes of the nido derivatives of the icosahedral o-carborane clusters. With few exceptions, the metal complexation in the cluster can be viewed as the substitution of one or more bridging hydrogen atoms by the metal. Therefore, a necessary requirement for the complexation is the deprotonation of the nido cluster to generate a coordination site for that metal. The reaction to remove these protons, which most probably is one of the most commonly done processes in boron and metallaborane chemistry, is barely known, and no quantitative data are available on the magnitude of their pKa values. With the purpose of determining the acidity of nido-carboranes, a procedure to calculate the pKa values of nido boron clusters is presented in this paper for the first time. To this objective, some nido clusters have been selected and their geometry and NMR-spectroscopic properties have been studied, giving a good correlation between the theoretical and experimental data in both geometry distances and 11B NMR spectroscopy. Of notice is the result that proves that the singular carbon atom in the thermodynamic isomer of [C2B10H13]- is definitely part of the cluster and that its connection with the C2B3 face would be better defined by adding additional interactions with the two boron atoms nearest to the second cluster carbon. The pKa values of the nido species have been calculated by correlating experimental pK(a) values and calculated reaction Gibbs energies DeltaG(s). Some pKa values of importance are -4.6 and +13.5 for 7,8-[C2B9H13] (1) and 7,8-[C2B9H12]- (2), respectively.     

Antioxidant activity of the anti-inflammatory compound ebselen: a reversible cyclization pathway via selenenic and seleninic acid intermediates

A revised mechanism that accounts for the glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like catalytic activity of the organoselenium compound ebselen is described. It is shown that the reaction of ebselen with H(2)O(2) yields seleninic acid as the only oxidized product. The X-ray crystal structure of the seleninic acid shows that the selenium atom is involved in a noncovalent interaction with the carbonyl oxygen atom. In the presence of excess thiol, the Se--N bond in ebselen is readily cleaved by the thiol to produce the corresponding selenenyl sulfide. The selenenyl sulfide thus produced undergoes a disproportionation in the presence of H(2)O(2) to produce the diselenide, which upon reaction with H(2)O(2), produces a mixture of selenenic and seleninic acids. The addition of thiol to the mixture containing selenenic and seleninic acids leads to the formation of the selenenyl sulfide. When the concentration of the thiol is relatively low in the reaction mixture, the selenenic acid undergoes a rapid cyclization to produce ebselen. The seleninic acid, on the other hand, reacts with the diselenide to produce ebselen as the final product. DFT calculations show that the cyclization of selenenic acids to the corresponding selenenyl amides is more favored than that of sulfenic acids to the corresponding sulfenyl amides. This indicates that the regeneration of ebselen under a variety of conditions protects the selenium moiety from irreversible inactivation, which may be responsible for the biological activities of ebselen.     

Determination of cationic mobilities and pKa values of 22 amino acids by capillary zone electrophoresis

The effective mobilities of the cationic forms of common amino acids--mostly proteinogenic--were determined by capillary zone electrophoresis in acidic background electrolytes at pH between 2.0 and 3.2. The underivatized amino acids were detected by the double contactless conductivity detector. Experimentally measured effective mobilities were fitted with the suitable regression functions in dependence on pH of the background electrolyte. The parameters of the given regression function corresponded to the values of the actual mobilities and the mixed dissociation constants (combining activities and concentrations) of the compound related to the actual ionic strength. McInnes approximation and Onsager theory were used to obtain thermodynamic dissociation constants (pK(a)) and limiting (absolute) ionic mobilities.     

Correlations and predictions of carboxylic acid pKa values using intermolecular structure and properties of hydrogen-bonded complexes

Density functional theory calculations have been preformed on a series of hydrogen-bonded complexes of substituted aliphatic and aromatic carboxylic acids with ammonia. Molecular properties, particularly those related to hydrogen bonding, have been carefully examined for their interdependence as well as dependence on the acidity of the acid. The bond length and stretching frequency of the hydroxyl group and the hydrogen-bond length and energy of the complex are shown to be highly correlated with each other and are linearly correlated with available literature pKa values of the carboxylic acids. The linear correlations resulting from the fit to the available pKa values can be used to predict the pKa values of similar carboxylic acids. The pKa values so predicted using the different molecular properties are highly consistent and in good agreement with the literature values. This study suggests that calculated molecular properties of hydrogen-bonded complexes allow effective and systematic prediction of pKa values for a large range of organic acids using the established linear correlations. This approach is unique in its capability to determine the acidity of a particular functional group or the local acidity within a large molecular system such as a protein.     

Determination of pKa values by liquid chromatography

In this paper, we investigate the potential of a high-performance liquid chromatography technique to determine pKa values of drug candidates that show poor solubility in water. The determination of pKa values by this method is in principle not new, but it exhibits simplicity, requires lower quantities of drugs and solvents, and minimal analysis time. The method is an alternative to existing methodology, in which this determination is not readily feasible.     

Theoretical calculation of the pKa values of some drugs in aqueous solution

In this work, calculations of pK_a values have been performed on benzoic acid and its para‐substituted derivatives and some drugs by using Gaussian 98 software package. Gas‐phase energies were calculated with HF/6‐31 G** and B3LYP/6‐31 G** levels of theory. Free energies of solvation have been computed using the polarizable continuum model (PCM), conductor‐like PCM (CPCM), and the integral equation formalism‐PCM at the same levels which have been used for geometry determination in the gas‐phase. The results that show the calculated pK_a values using the B3LYP are better than those using the corresponding HF. In comparison to the other models, the results obtained indicate that the PCM model is a suitable solvation model for calculating pK_a values. For the investigated compounds, a good agreement between the experimental and the calculated pK_a values was also observed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

Prediction of chromatographic retention,pKa values and optimization of the separation of polyphenolic acids in strawberries

Polyphenolic acids are a complex group of compounds that have attracted enormous attention in the last few years because of their biological properties. In this work, the proportion of organic modifier and the pH of acetonitrile-water mixtures used as mobile phases were optimized in order to separate a series of polyphenolic compounds. The linear solvation energy relationship formalism based on the single solvent polarity parameter, E(T)N was used to predict their chromatographic behavior as a function of the percentage of acetonitrile in the eluent. Moreover, the correlation established between retention and the pH of the aqueous-organic mobile phase was used to optimize the pH of the mobile phase. The optimized mobile phase is composed of acetonitrile and formic acid buffer adjusted to pH 4.25, with 12% (v/v) acetonitrile. Also, the pKa values of polyphenolic acids in acetonitrile-water mixtures were determined using chromatographic data, and in order to validate the optimized conditions, a series of polyphenolic compounds was studied in strawberries.     

Prediction and rationalization of protein pKa values using QM and QM/MM methods

We describe the development and application of a computational method for the prediction and rationalization of pKa values of ionizable residues in proteins, based on ab initio quantum mechanics (QM) and the effective fragment potential (EFPs) method (a hybrid QM/MM method). The theoretical developments include (1) a covalent boundary method based on frozen localized orbitals, (2) divide-and-conquer methods for the ab initio computation of protein EFPs consisting of multipoles up to octupoles and dipole polarizability tensors, (3) a method for computing vibrational free energies for a localized molecular region, and (4) solutions of the polarized continuum model of bulk solvation equations for protein-sized systems. The QM-based pKa prediction method is one of the most accurate methods currently available and can be used in cases where other pKa prediction methods fail. Preliminary analysis of the computed results indicate that many pKa values (1) are primarily determined by hydrogen bonds rather than long-range charge-charge interactions and (2) are relatively insensitive to large-scale dynamical fluctuations of the protein structure.     

Determination of the overlapping pKa values of resorcinol using UV-visible spectroscopy and DFT methods

In this paper we determine the overlapping pK(a) values of resorcinol in water, applying a UV-Vis spectroscopic method that uses absorbance diagrams. On the other hand, in order to explain the pK(a) values obtained, we also investigate the molecular conformations and solute-solvent interactions of the resorcinate anions, using ab initio and density functional theory methods. Several ionization reactions and equilibria in protic solvents, which possess a high hydrogen-bond-donor capability, are proposed. The mentioned reactions and equilibria constituted the indispensable theoretical basis to calculate the acidity constants of resorcinol. Basis sets at the HF/6-31 + G(d) and B3LYP/6-31 + G(d) levels of theory were used for calculations. Tomasi's method was used to analyze the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the resorcinate anions and water molecules. In this way, it was determined that in alkaline aqueous solutions the monoanion and dianion of resorcinol are solvated with two and four molecules of water, respectively. The agreement between the experimentally determined pK(a) values and those reported in the literature demonstrates the applicability and accurateness of the spectroscopic method here used. On the other hand, the agreement between the experimental and theoretically calculated pK(a) values provides solid support for the acid-base reactions proposed in this work.     

Mechanism of telomerization of 1,3-dienes with sulfinic acids,catalyzed by palladium complexes

The probable telomerization mechanism was studied by IR spectroscopy, according to which the reaction of 1,3-dienes with sulfinic acids proceeds through a stage of formation of S-sulfinate complexes of palladium, which bring about the formation of molecules of unsaturated sulfones.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 1146–1150, May, 1990.     

Determination of pKa values of anthraquinone compounds by capillary electrophoresis

In this paper, the dissociation constants (pKa1, pKa2) of five anthraquinones were determined from the relation between the effective mobility at different pH values and the buffer pH value, which was derived from the basic electrophoresis theory and the dissociation equilibrium of a binary acid. In addition, the changes of pKa values of the five compounds were also investigated when organic modifiers were added to the buffer system.     

Theoretical study of the electronic gas-phase spectrum of glycine, alanine, and related amines and carboxylic acids

A theoretical study on the origin of the common electronic excitations in amino acids is presented, focusing on the excited states of glycine, alanine and the related substructures formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, ammonia, methylamine, and ethylamine. Special attention is given to the valence excitation from the nonbonding lone-pair on the carboxylic oxygen atom to the antibonding pi-orbital (n(O) --> pi*(CO)) and the first Rydberg excitation from the nonbonding lone-pair on the nitrogen atom (n(N) --> 3s). From extensive calculations on formic acid and methylamine, different basis sets and electron correlation treatments are benchmarked using a hierarchy of coupled cluster (CC) methods, consisting of CCS, CC2, CCSD, CCSDR(3), and CC3, in combination with augmented correlation consistent basis sets. The dependence of the excitation energies on the size of the backbone structure in the two groups of molecules is investigated, and 0-0 transition energies for the n(O) --> pi*(CO) and n(N) --> 3s transitions are calculated for the smallest molecules. Excellent agreement with experimental values is found where secure experimental assignments are available. A few outstanding problems in the experimental assignments found in the literature are described for both the carboxylic acids and the amines. Final predictions for vertical excitation energies are given for all molecules, including glycine and alanine where no gas-phase experimental results are available. Finally, calculations on protonated amino acids are presented showing an isolation of the n(O) --> pi*(CO) from higher lying states by as much as 1.9 eV for alanine.     

Solubilization of amphiphilic carboxylic acids in nonionic micelles: determination of partition coefficients from pKa measurements and NMR experiments

The solubilization of octylamidotartaric acid (C8T) and octanoic acid (C8C) in Triton X-100 and Brij 58 nonionic micelles has been studied by pHmetric and 1H NMR self-diffusion experiments. As both C8C and C8T exhibit acid-base properties, a distinction between the partition of the neutral acidic form, in terms of the partition coefficient KPH, and the partition of the charged basic form, in terms of the partition coefficient KP-, has been made. The acidity constants, Ka, of C8T and C8C in the presence of micelles have been evaluated from pHmetric experiments. For both solutes, an increase in the pKa is observed in micellar media due to the difference in the partition of acidic and basic forms of the solutes. A model has been developed to determine KPH and KP- from the pKa shifts observed. The values obtained by this pKa shift modeling method and those from self-diffusion coefficient measurements are in good agreement. The acidic form of C8C is incorporated to a larger extent into the Brij 58 micelles than the acidic form of C8T, whereas the opposite trend is observed for the basic forms. Both the acidic and basic forms of C8T are more easily incorporated into Brij 58 micelles than into Triton X-100 micelles. The influence of the structure of the polar head on the solubilization properties is demonstrated. Moreover, evidence for the localization of the solutes in the micelles is obtained from the comparison of the partition coefficients and from 1H NMR data.     

S-benzylthiouronium salts of some carboxylic acids,sulfonic acids,and phenols

116 S-Benzylthiouronium suits have been prepared and were, if possible, checked by titration with perchloric acid in glacial acetic acid on a semi-micro scale. Out of these, 110 are salts of carboxylic acids, 2 of snlfonic acids, and 4 of nitrophenols. The melting points determined according to a standard procedure are given.