Unimolecular reactions of dihydrated alkaline earth metal dications M2+(H2O)2, M = Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba: salt-bridge mechanism in the proton-transfer reaction M2+(H2O)2 --> MOH+ + H3O

The unimolecular reactivity of M(2+)(H(2)O)(2), M = Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba, is investigated by density functional theory. Dissociation of the complex occurs either by proton transfer to form singly charged metal hydroxide, MOH(+), and protonated water, H(3)O(+), or by loss of water to form M(2+)(H(2)O) and H(2)O. Charge transfer from water to the metal forming H(2)O(+) and M(+)(H(2)O) is not favorable for any of the metal complexes. The relative energetics of these processes are dominated by the metal dication size. Formation of MOH(+) proceeds first by one water ligand moving to the second solvation shell followed by proton transfer to this second-shell water molecule and subsequent Coulomb explosion. These hydroxide formation reactions are exothermic with activation energies that are comparable to the water binding energy for the larger metals. This results in a competition between proton transfer and loss of a water molecule. The arrangement with one water ligand in the second solvation shell is a local minimum on the potential energy surface for all metals except Be. The two transition states separating this intermediate from the reactant and the products are identified. The second transition state determines the height of the activation barrier and corresponds to a M(2+)-OH(-)-H(3)O(+) "salt-bridge" structure. The computed B3LYP energy of this structure can be quantitatively reproduced by a simple ionic model in which Lewis charges are localized on individual atoms. This salt-bridge arrangement lowers the activation energy of the proton-transfer reaction by providing a loophole on the potential energy surface for the escape of H(3)O(+). Similar salt-bridge mechanisms may be involved in a number of proton-transfer reactions in small solvated metal ion complexes, as well as in other ionic reactions.     

Electrostatic versus nonelectrostatic effects in DNA sequence discrimination by divalent ions Mg2+ and Mn2+

Mg2+ and Mn2+ ions are critical to the functioning of phosphoryl transfer enzymes, such as restriction endonucleases. Although these ions play similar roles in the chemical steps, they govern substrate specificity via modulating sequence discrimination by up to a factor of 10(5) with Mg2+ and only up to a factor of 10 with Mn2+. To explain whether such diversity originates in fundamental differences in the electronic structures of the nucleobase-hydrated-metal ion complexes, structures and interaction energies were determined at the density functional (DFT) and second-order M?ller-Plesset (MP2) levels of theory. Although both metal ions favor identical binding sites, Mn2+ complexes exhibit greater distortions from the ideal octahedral geometry and larger variability than the corresponding Mg2+ systems. In inner-shell complexes, with direct contact between the metal and the nucleobase, Mg2+ is preferred over Mn2+ in the gas phase, due primarily to nonelectrostatic effects. The interaction energies of the two metal ions are more similar in the outer-shell complexes, likely due to reduced charge transfer between the hydrated metal ion and the base moieties. Inclusion of solvation effects can amplify the relative nucleobase preferences of Mg2+ and Mn2+, indicating that bulk hydration modulates the balance between electrostatic and nonelectrostatic terms. In most cases, the base substitutions in solution are facilitated more by Mn2+ than by Mg2+. Electrostatic properties of the environment were demonstrated to have a major influence on the nucleobase preferences of the two metal ions. Overall, quantum chemical calculations suggest that the contrasting selectivity of Mg2+ and Mn2+ cofactors toward nucleobases derives from the larger flexibility of the Mn2+ complexes accompanied by the excessive polarization and charge-transfer effects as well as less favorable solvation.     

Dissection of the difference between the group I metal ions in inhibiting GSK3β: a computational study

Glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) is a serine/threonine kinase that requires two cofactor Mg(2+) ions for catalysis in regulating many important cellular signals. Experimentally, Li(+) is a competitive inhibitor of GSK3β relative to Mg(2+), while this mechanism is not experienced with other group I metal ions. Herein, we use native Mg(2)(2+)-Mg(1)(2+) GSK3β and its Mg(2)(2+)-M(1)(+) (M = Li, Na, K, and Rb) derivatives to investigate the effect of metal ion substitution on the mechanism of inhibition through two-layer ONIOM-based quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results of ONIOM calculations elucidate that the interaction of Na(+), K(+), and Rb(+) with ATP is weaker compared to that of Mg(2+) and Li(+) with ATP, and the critical triphosphate moiety of ATP undergoes a large conformational change in the Na(+), K(+), and Rb(+) substituted systems. As a result, the three metal ions (Na(+), K(+), and Rb(+)) are not stable and depart from the active site, while Mg(2+) and Li(+) can stabilize in the active site, evident in MD simulations. Comparisons of Mg(2)(2+)-Mg(1)(2+) and Mg(2)(2+)-Li(1)(+) systems reveal that the inline phosphor-transfer of ATP and the two conserved hydrogen bonds between Lys85 and ATP, together with the electrostatic potential at the Li(1)(+) site, are disrupted in the Mg(2)(2+)-Li(1)(+) system. These computational results highlight the possible mechanism why Li(+) inhibits GSK3β.     

A kinetic and thermodynamic study of the glycosidic bond cleavage in deoxyuridine

Density functional theory was used to study the thermodynamics and kinetics for the glycosidic bond cleavage in deoxyuridine. Two reaction pathways were characterized for the unimolecular decomposition in vacuo. However, these processes are associated with large reaction barriers and highly endothermic reaction energies, which is in agreement with experiments that suggest a (water) nucleophile is required for the nonenzymatic glycosidic bond cleavage. Two (S(N)1 and S(N)2) reaction pathways were characterized for direct hydrolysis of the glycosidic bond by a single water molecule; however, both pathways also involve very large barriers. Activation of the water nucleophile via partial proton abstraction steadily decreases the barrier and leads to a more exothermic reaction energy as the proton affinity of the molecule interacting with water increases. Indeed, our data suggests that the barrier heights and reaction energies range from that for hydrolysis by water to that for hydrolysis by the hydroxyl anion, which represents the extreme of (full) water activation (deprotonation). Hydrogen bonds between small molecules (hydrogen fluoride, water, or ammonia) and the nucleobase were found to further decrease the barrier and overall reaction energy but not to the extent that the same hydrogen-bonding interactions increase the acidity of the nucleobase. Our results suggest that the nature of the nucleophile plays a more important role in reducing the barrier to glycosidic bond cleavage than the nature of the small molecule bound, and models with more than one hydrogen fluoride molecule interacting with the nucleobase provide further support for this conclusion. Our results lead to a greater fundamental understanding of the effects of the nucleophile, activation of the nucleophile, and interactions with the nucleobase for this important biological reaction.     

A comprehensive theoretical study on the hydrolysis of carbonyl sulfide in the neutral water

The detailed hydration mechanism of carbonyl sulfide (COS) in the presence of up to five water molecules has been investigated at the level of HF and MP2 with the basis set of 6-311++G(d, p). The nucleophilic addition of water molecule occurs in a concerted way across the C==S bond of COS rather than across the C==O bond. This preferential reaction mechanism could be rationalized in terms of Fukui functions for the both nucleophilic and electrophilic attacks. The activation barriers, DeltaH( not equal) (298), for the rate-determining steps of one up to five-water hydrolyses of COS across the C==S bond are 199.4, 144.4, 123.0, 115.5, and 107.9 kJ/mol in the gas phase, respectively. The most favorable hydrolysis path of COS involves a sort of eight-membered ring transition structure and other two water molecules near to the nonreactive oxygen atom but not involved in the proton transfer, suggesting that the hydrolysis of COS can be significantly mediated by the water molecule(s) and the cooperative effects of the water molecule(s) in the nonreactive region. The catalytic effect of water molecule(s) due to the alleviation of ring strain in the proton transfer process may result from the synergistic effects of rehybridization and charge reorganization from the precoordination complex to the rate-determining transition state structure induced by water molecule. The studies on the effect of temperature on the hydrolysis of COS show that the higher temperature is unfavorable for the hydrolysis of COS. PCM solvation models almost do not modify the calculated energy barriers in a significant way.     

Differential effects of Mg(ii) and N(alpha)-4-tosyl-l-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride on the recognition and catalysis in ATP hydrolysis

The supramolecular interactions of Mg(ii) and N(alpha)-4-tosyl-l-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (TAME) with ATP have been investigated using (1)H and (31)P NMR spectra. Furthermore, the hydrolysis of ATP catalyzed by Mg(ii) and TAME has been studied at 60 degrees C and pH 7 using (31)P NMR spectra. In the Mg(ii)-ATP-TAME ternary system, the binding interaction of Mg(2+) with ATP involves not only N1 and N7 in the adenine ring but also beta- and gamma-phosphate of ATP. The binding forces are mainly electrostatic interaction and cation (Mg(2+))-pi interaction. The guanidinium group and the aromatic ring of TAME interacts with ATP by beta and gamma phosphate and the adenine ring of ATP. The binding forces are mainly electrostatic interactions and pi-pi stacking. A significant difference between the binary and the ternary system indicates that TAME is essential to the stablization of the intermediate. Kinetic studies show that the hydrolysis rate constant of ATP is 2.16 x 10(-2) h(-1) at pH 7 in the Mg(ii)-TAME-ATP ternary system. The Mg(ii) ion and TAME can accelerate the ATP hydrolysis process. A possible mechanism has been proposed that the hydrolysis occurs through an addition-elimination, in which the phosphoramidate intermediate was observed at 3.21 ppm in the (31)P NMR of the ternary system. These results provide further information concerning the effect of the key amino acid residue and metal ions as cofactors of ATPase on ATP synthesis/hydrolysis at the molecular level.     

CH2CHOH2+ + PN: a proton-transfer triple play

Quantum chemical calculations are used to explore the proton-transfer reactivity of O-protonated vinyl alcohol, CH2CHOH2+, with phosphorus nitride, PN. This reaction is relevant to the chemical evolution of interstellar clouds, since O-protonated vinyl alcohol has been postulated (and tentatively identified) as a product of the association reaction between interstellar H3O+ and C2H2, while PN is the most widespread and abundant phosphorus-containing molecule seen in astrophysical environments. Furthermore, the reaction exhibits an unusual mechanistic feature, namely, an extended "proton-transport catalysis" mechanism, which we characterize here as a "proton-transfer triple play". The reaction proceeds initially by proton transfer from CH2CHOH2+ to PN, then from PNH+ to CH2CHOH, and finally from CH3CHOH+ to PN, where the emphasized atom indicates the resultant site of protonation/deprotonation. Thus, the ultimate overall bimolecular proton-transfer reaction is expected to occur as CH2CHOH2+ + PN --> CH3CHO + PNH+; that is, the apparent favored product channel exhibits not only proton transfer but also keto/enol tautomerization. The triple-play mechanism can be rationalized in terms of the proton affinities of vinyl alcohol, acetaldehyde, and phosphorus nitride, which here are satisfactorily reproduced by high-level ab initio calculations. Other neutrals with a proton affinity appropriate for the possible triple-play mechanism converting CH2CHOH2+ to CH3CHO are also identified, with a view to encouraging experimental investigation of this mechanism.     

The solvation of Mg2+ with gas-phase clusters composed of alcohol molecules

The dication Mg2+ has been clustered with a range of different alcohols to form [Mg(ROH)N]2+ complexes, where N lies in the range 2-10. Observations on the chemistry of the complexes reveal two separate patterns of behavior: (i) unimolecular metastable decay, where at small values of N the complexes undergo rapid charge separation via Coulomb explosion; and (ii) electron capture-induced decay, where collisional activation promotes bond-breaking processes via charge reduction. For the latter it has been possible to identify a generic set of reactions that are common to all of the different [Mg(ROH)N]2+ complexes; however, there are examples of reactions that are specific to individual alcohols and values of N. For metastable decay, it is shown that there is a clear correlation between the value of N at which a complex ceases to be metastable and the ionization energy of R, the radical that forms the complementary ion in the Coulomb explosion step. Metastable decay in two of the [Mg(ROH)N]2+ complexes follows a very different pathway that eventually results in proton abstraction. It is suggested that this difference is due to the precursor complexes adopting geometries that have at least one ROH molecule in a secondary solvation shell.     

Role of Mg2+ and Ca2+ in DNA bending: evidence from an ONIOM-based QM-MM study of a DNA fragment

The binding of hydrated Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions with a DNA fragment containing two phosphate groups, three sugar units, and a G.C base pair is modeled in the anion and dianion states using a three-layer ONIOM approach. A monodentate binding mode was the most stable structure observed for both the ions in the anion model. However, the interactions of Mg2+ and Ca2+ with the dianion model of the DNA fragment gave rise to a large structural deformation at the base pair region, leading to the formation of "ring" structures. In both anion and dianion models, Mg2+-bound structures were considerably more stable than the corresponding Ca2+-bound structures. This feature and the formation of ring structures in the dianion models strongly supported the higher coordination power of the Mg2+ toward DNA systems for its compaction. The charge of the DNA fragment appeared to be crucial in deciding the binding strength as well as the binding mechanism of the metal ions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first theoretical investigation of the interaction of a comparatively larger DNA model system with the biologically important Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions.     

Silicate glass and mineral dissolution: calculated reaction paths and activation energies for hydrolysis of a q3 si by H3O+ using ab initio methods

Molecular orbital energy minimizations were performed with the B3LYP/6-31G(d) method on a [((OH)3SiO)3SiOH-(H3O+).4(H2O)] cluster to follow the reaction path for hydrolysis of an Si-O-Si linkage via proton catalysis in a partially solvated system. The Q3 molecule was chosen (rather than Q2 or Q1) to estimate the maximum activation energy for a fully relaxed cluster representing the surface of an Al-depleted acid-etched alkali feldspar. Water molecules were included in the cluster to investigate the influence of explicit solvation on proton-transfer reactions and on the energy associated with hydroxylating the bridging oxygen atom (Obr). Single-point energy calculations were performed with the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) method. Proton transfer from the hydronium cation to an Obr requires sufficient energy to suggest that the Si-(OH)-Si species will occur only in trace quantities on a silica surface. Protonation of the Obr lengthens the Si-Obr bond and allows for the formation of a pentacoordinate Si intermediate ([5]Si). The energy required to form this species is the dominant component of the activation energy barrier to hydrolysis. After formation of the pentacoordinate intermediate, hydrolysis occurs via breaking the [5]Si-(OH)-Si linkage with a minimal activation energy barrier. A concerted mechanism involving stretching of the [5]Si-(OH) bond, proton transfer from the Si-(OH2)+ back to form H3O+, and a reversion of [5]Si to tetrahedral coordination was predicted. The activation energy for Q3Si hydrolysis calculated here was found to be less than that reported for Q3Si using a constrained cluster in the literature but significantly greater than the measured activation energies for the hydrolysis of Si-Obr bonds in silicate minerals. These results suggest that the rate-limiting step in silicate dissolution is not the hydrolysis of Q3Si-Obr bonds but rather the breakage of Q2 or Q1Si-Obr bonds.     

The mechanism of formamide hydrolysis in water from ab initio calculations and simulations

The neutral hydrolysis of formamide in water is a suitable reference to quantify the efficiency of proteolytic enzymes. However, experimental data for this reaction has only very recently been obtained and the kinetic constant determined experimentally is significantly higher than that predicted by previous theoretical estimations. In this work, we have investigated in detail the possible mechanisms of this reaction. Several solvent models have been considered that represent a considerable improvement on those used in previous studies. Density functional and ab initio calculations have been carried out on a system which explicitly includes the first solvation shell of the formamide molecule. Its interaction with the bulk has been treated with the aid of a dielectric continuum model. Molecular dynamics simulations at the combined density functional/molecular mechanics level have been carried out in parallel to better understand the structure of the reaction intermediates in aqueous solution. Overall, the most favored mechanism predicted by our study involves two reaction steps. In the first step, the carbonyl group of the formamide molecule is hydrated to form a diol intermediate. The corresponding transition structure involves two water molecules. From this intermediate, a water-assisted proton transfer occurs from one of the hydroxy groups to the amino group. This reaction step may lead either to the formation of a new reaction intermediate with a marked zwitterionic character or to dissociation of the system into ammonia and formic acid. The zwitterionic intermediate dissociates quite easily but its lifetime is not negligible and it could play a role in the hydrolysis of substituted amides or peptides. The predicted pseudo-first-order kinetic constant for the rate-limiting step (the first step) of the hydrolysis reaction at 25 degrees C (3.9x10(-10) s(-1)) is in excellent agreement with experimental data (1.1x10(-10) s(-1)).     

Different Catalytic Effects of a Single Water Molecule: The Gas‐Phase Reaction of Formic Acid with Hydroxyl Radical in Water Vapor

The effect of a single water molecule on the reaction mechanism of the gas‐phase reaction between formic acid and the hydroxyl radical was investigated with high‐level quantum mechanical calculations using DFT–B3LYP, MP2 and CCSD(T) theoretical approaches in concert with the 6‐311+G(2df,2p) and aug‐cc‐pVTZ basis sets. The reaction between HCOOH and HO has a very complex mechanism involving a proton‐coupled electron transfer process (pcet), two hydrogen‐atom transfer reactions (hat) and a double proton transfer process (dpt). The hydroxyl radical predominantly abstracts the acidic hydrogen of formic acid through a pcet mechanism. A single water molecule affects each one of these reaction mechanisms in different ways, depending on the way the water interacts. Very interesting is also the fact that our calculations predict that the participation of a single water molecule results in the abstraction of the formyl hydrogen of formic acid through a hydrogen atom transfer process (hat).     

Kinetic and mechanistic analysis of nonenzymatic, template-directed oligoribonucleotide ligation

The role of divalent cations in the mechanism of pyrophosphate-activated, template-directed oligoribonucleotide ligation has been investigated. The dependence of the reaction rate on Mg2+ concentration suggests a kinetic scheme in which a Mg2+ ion must bind before ligation can proceed. Mn2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+ can also catalyze the reaction. Although Pb2+ and Zn2+ do not catalyze the reaction in the absence of other divalent ions, they significantly modulate the reaction rate when added in the presence of Mg2+, with Pb2+ stimulating the reaction (up to 65-fold) and Zn2+ inhibiting the reaction. The logarithm of the ligation rate increases linearly, with slope of 0.95, as a function of pH, indicating that the reaction involves a single critical deprotonation step. The ligation rates observed with the different divalent metal ion catalysts (Mn2+ > Mg2+ > Ca2+ > Sr2+ = Ba2+) vary inversely with the pKa values of their bound water molecules. The pH profile and these relative ligation rates suggest a mechanism in which a metal-bound hydroxide ion located near the ligation junction promotes catalysis, most likely by deprotonation of the hydroxl nucleophile. The effects of changing either the leaving group or the attacking hydroxyl, together with the large delta S(++) value for oligonucleotide ligation (about -20 eu), are consistent with an associative transition state.     

Modification of the intrinsic fluorescence and the biochemical behavior of ATP after irradiation with visible and near-infrared laser light

In this work, the effects of visible (655 nm) and near-infrared (830 nm) light on ATP in solution were examined. The addition of irradiated ATP to the hexokinase reaction caused significant differences in the reaction rates and in the Michaelis-Menten kinetic parameters, k(m) and v(max). Irradiated ATP cleavage by hexokinase occurred in less time. Changes were wavelength and dose dependent. Excitation of ATP with a 260 nm wavelength ultraviolet light induced a fluorescence emission that was decreased when Mg2+ was added due to ion binding of the phosphates, which are the structures that modify the fluorescence produced by the adenine dipoles. The irradiation of this ATP.Mg2+ solution using 655 and 830 nm light increased the fluorescence by a possible displacement of Mg2+ from the phosphates. In conclusion, visible and near-infrared light modifies the biochemical behavior of ATP in the hexokinase reaction and the fluorescence intensity of the molecule thus altering the Mg2+ binding strength to the oxygen atoms in the phosphate group.     

Density functional calculations of ATP systems. 1. Crystalline ATP hydrates and related molecules

Adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) is an essential energy carrier in mammalian and other cells, and its hydrolysis to the diphosphate (ADP) in the presence of metal cations (e.g., Mg(2+) or Ca(2+)) is one of the most prevalent biochemical reactions. We describe here density functional (DF) calculations on closely related systems and compare the results with other calculations and available experimental data: Na(H2O)n +, Mg(H2O)n 2+, and Ca(H2O)n 2+ clusters (n = 1, 4-7), the crystalline pyrophosphates Mg(2)P(2)O(7).6H2O and alpha-CaNa(2)P(2)O(7).4H2O, and crystalline Na(2)ATP.3H2O. The last of these comprises asymmetric units of ATP dimers (monomers A and B) in a double-protonated state H(2)(ATP)(2-). The calculated structures agree well with available measurements and provide additional information, including the location of the H atoms. Analysis of the dipole moments of individual ATP monomers and their dimers shows that the crystal comprises blocks of opposing dipoles. Replacing one Na+ ion with Mg2+ or Ca2+ results in a significant elongation of the terminal bridging P-O bond. The calculations provide benchmarks for the use of DF methods in ATP systems and are used in the companion paper to study the hydrolysis of ATP at the active site of the protein actin.     

羟基负离子与苯分子的反应机理

在G3MP2B3理论水平下研究了羟基负离子和苯的反应机理, 系统地分析了该反应体系中可能存在的主要热力学产物通道. 计算结果证实了前人的实验观测结果, 其主要产物是[C6H6…OH]-络合物, 质子转移和置换氢的产物通道为吸热过程, 在较低实验碰撞能量的情况下难以发生, 而生成氢气的反应通道虽然是强放热过程(-119.5 kJ·mol-1), 但其相应的反应能垒较高而无法发生. 计算对比了羟基负离子和氧负离子、氟负离子抽取苯分子中质子的机理所存在的差异, 并结合Mulliken电荷布居分析研究了其中涉及的电子交换过程. 此外, 还对比分析了羟基负离子、羟基自由基与苯反应不同的机理.     

Reaction mechanism of porphyrin metallation studied by theoretical methods

We have studied the reaction mechanism for the insertion of Mg2+ and Fe2+ into a porphyrin ring with density functional calculations with large basis set and including solvation, zero-point and thermal effects. We have followed the reaction from the outer-sphere complex, in which the metal is coordinated with six water molecules and the porphyrin is doubly protonated, until the metal ion is inserted into the deprotonated porphyrin ring with only one water ligand remaining. This reaction involves the stepwise displacement of five water molecules and the removal of two protons from the porphyrin ring. In addition, a step seems to be necessary in which a porphyrin pyrrolenine nitrogen atom changes its interaction from a hydrogen bond to a metal-bound solvent molecule to a direct coordination to the metal ion. If the protons are taken up by a neutral imidazole molecule, the deprotonation reactions are exothermic with minimal barriers. However, with a water molecule as an acceptor, they are endothermic. The ligand exchange reactions were approximately thermoneutral (+/-20 kJ mol(-1), with one exception) with barriers of up to 72 kJ mol(-1) for Mg and 51 kJ mol(-1) for Fe. For Mg, the highest barrier was found for the formation of the first bond to the porphyrin ring. For Fe, a higher barrier was found for the formation of the second bond to the porphyrin ring, but this barrier is probably lower in solution. No evidence was found for an initial pre-equilibrium between a planar and a distorted porphyrin ring. Instead, the porphyrin becomes more and more distorted as the number of metal-porphyrin bonds increase (by up to 191 kJ mol(-1)). This strain is released when the porphyrin becomes deprotonated and the metal moves into the ring plane. Implications of these findings for the chelatase enzymes are discussed.     

A mechanistic study of sialic acid mutarotation: implications for mutarotase enzymes

The mutarotation of N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) proceeds by four kinetically distinct pathways: (i) the acid-catalyzed reaction of neutral Neu5Ac; (ii) the spontaneous reaction of the carboxylic acid (the kinetically equivalent acid-catalyzed reaction on the anion being ruled out by the solvent deuterium kinetic isotope effect of 3.74 ± 0.68); (iii) a spontaneous, water-catalyzed, reaction of the anion; and (iv) a specific-base catalyzed reaction of the anion. The magnitude of the solvent kinetic isotope effect, k(H2O)/k(D2O) = 4.48 ± 0.74 is consistent with a ring-opening transition state in which a water molecule is deprotonating the anomeric hydroxyl group in concert with strengthening solvation of the ring oxygen atom. The mechanistic implications for Neu5Ac mutarotases are discussed.     

The elimination of a hydrogen atom in Na(H2O)n

By a systematic examination on Na(H2O)n, with n = 4-7, 9, 10, and 15, we demonstrate that a hydrogen loss reaction can be initiated by a single sodium atom with water molecules. This reaction is similar to the well-known size-dependent intracluster hydrogen loss in Mg+(H2O)n, which is isoelectronic to Na(H2O)n. However, with one less charge on Na(H2O)n than that on Mg+(H2O)n, the hydrogen loss for Na(H2O)n is characterized by a higher barrier and a more flexible solvation shell around the metal ion, although the reaction should be accessible, as the lowest barrier is around 8 kcal/mol. Interestingly, the hydroxide ion OH- produced in the process is stabilized by the solvation of H2O molecules and the formation of an ion pair Na+(H2O)4(H2O)n-l-4[OH-(H2O)l]. The activation barrier is reduced as the unpaired electron in Na(H2O)n moves to higher solvation shells with increasing cluster size, and the reaction is not switched off for larger clusters. This is in sharp contrast to the reaction for Mg+(H2O)n, in which the OH- ion is stabilized by direct coordination with Mg2+ and the reaction is switched off for n > 17, as the unpaired electron moved to higher solvation shells. Such a contrast illustrates the important link between microsolvation environment and chemical reactivity in solvation clusters.     

Solvation structure and transport of acidic protons in ionic liquids: a first-principles simulation study

Ab initio simulations of a single molecule of HCl in liquid dimethyl imidazolium chloride [dmim][Cl] show that the acidic proton exists as a symmetric, linear ClHCl(-) species. Details of the solvation structure around this molecule are given. The proton-transfer process was investigated by applying a force along the antisymmetric stretch coordinate until the molecule broke. Changes in the free energy and local solvation structure during this process were investigated. In the reaction mechanism identified, a free chloride approaches the proton from the side. As the original ClHCl(-) distorts and the incoming chloride forms a new bond to the proton, one of the original chlorine atoms is expelled and a new linear molecule is formed.