Research progress in cation-π interactions

Cation-π interaction is a potent intermolecular interaction between a cation and an aromatic system,which has been viewed as a new kind of binding force,as being compared with the classical interactions(e.g. hydrogen bonding,electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions). Cation-π interactions have been observed in a wide range of biological contexts. In this paper,we present an overview of the typical cation-π interactions in biological systems,the experimental and theoretical investigations on cation-π interactions,as well as the research results on cation-π interactions in our group.     

Study on the Cation-π Interactions between Ammonium Ion and Aromatic π Systems

The nature and strength of the cation-π interactions between NH4^＋ and toluene, p-cresol, or Me-indole were studied in terms of the topological properties of molecular charge density and binding energy decomposition. The results display that the diversity in the distribution pattern of bond and cage critical points reflects the profound influence of the number and nature of substituent on the electron density of the aromatic rings. On the other hand, the energy decomposition shows that dispersion and repulsive exchange forces play an important role in the organic cation （NH4^＋）-π interaction, although the electrostatic and induction forces dominate the interaction. In addition, it is intriguing that there is an excellent correlation between the electrostatic energy and ellipticity at the bond critical point of the aromatic π systems, which would be helpful to further understand the electrostatic interaction in the cation-π complexes.     

Interaction specific binding hotspots in Endonuclease colicin-immunity protein complex from MD simulations

The binding of Endonuclease colicin 9 (E9) by Immunity protein 9 (Im9) was found to involve some hotspots from helix III of Im9 on protein-protein interface that contribute the dominant binding energy to the complex.In the current work,MD simulations of the WT and three hotspot mutants (D51A,Y54A and Y55A of Im9) of the E9-Im9 complexes were carried out to investigate specific interaction mechanisms of these three hotspot residues.The changes of binding energy between the WT and mutants of the complex were computed by the MM/PBSA method using a polarized force field and were in excellent agreement with experiment values,verifying that these three residues were indeed hotspots of the binding complex.Energy decomposition analysis revealed that binding by D51 to E9 was dominated by electrostatic interaction due to the presence of the carboxyl group of Asp51 which hydrogen bonds to K89.For binding by hotspots Y54 and Y55,van der Waals interaction from the aromatic side chain of tyrosine provided the dominant interaction.For comparison,calculation by using the standard (nonpolarizable) AMBER99SB force field produced binding energy changes from these mutations in opposite direction to the experimental observation.Dynamic hydrogen bond analysis showed that conformations sampled from MD simulation in the standard AMBER force field were distorted from the native state and they disrupted the inter-protein hydrogen bond network of the protein-protein complex.The current work further demonstrated that electrostatic polarization plays a critical role in modulating protein-protein binding.     

Molecular path for ligand search

A ligand is a small molecule bind to several residues of a receptor.We adapt the concept of molecular path for effective ligand search with its contacting residues.Additionally,we allow wild type definitions on atoms and bonds of molecular paths for fuzzy algorithms on structural match.We choose hydrogen bond interactions to characterize the binding mode of a ligand by several proper molecular paths and use them to query the deposited ligands in PDBe that interact with their residues in the same way. Expression of molecular path and format of database entries are described with examples.Our molecular path provides a new approach to explore the ligand-receptor interactions and to provide structural framework reference on new ligand design.     

Molecular modeling and spectroscopic studies on the binding of guaiacol to human immunoglobulin

The fluorogenic property of guaiacol was exploited for the first time to analyze the interaction with target protein as a probe by molecular modeling, fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Molecular docking was performed to reveal the possible binding mode or mechanism and suggested that guaiacol can strongly bind to human immu- noglobulin (HIgG). It is considered that guaiacol binds to HIgG mainly by a hydrophobic interaction and there are two hydrogen bond interactions between the drug and the residues LEU 80 and ASP 65, which is in good agreement with the results from the experimental thermodynamic parameters (the enthalpy change △H0 and the entropy change △S0 were calculated to be 65.55 kJ·mol-1 and 132.95 J·mol-1·K-1 according to the Vant’ Hoff equation). Data obtained by the fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that binding of guaiacol with HIgG leads to dramatic enhancement in the fluorescence emission intensity along with significant occurrence of efficient Frster resonance energy transfer (FRET) from the residue of HIgG to the protein bound guaiacol. From the low value of fluorescence anisotropy (r = 0.06), it is argued that the probe molecule is located in the motionally unrestricted environment of the protein. The alterations of protein’s secondary structure in the presence of guaiacol in aqueous solution were quantitatively calculated by the evidences from FT-IR and CD spectroscopes.     

Exploring the binding mechanism of thioflavin-T to the β-amyloid peptide by blind docking method

Using blind dock method,we find that thioflavin-T(ThT) can bind to both monomers and fibrils of the full-length β-amyloid peptide(Aβ1-42) and has a higher binding affinity to the fibrils.It is shown that the hydrophobic interaction between the ligand(ThT) and substrate(Aβ1-42) are stronger than hydrogen bonds.Furthermore,ThT tends to be located near the C-terminus of Aβ monomer through hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions,while it tends to contact the residues Met35 and Gly27 of the fibril surface mainly through hydrophobic interaction.Finally,according to the docking results and ThT fluorescence assay,a kinetic equation is proposed to deduce the aggregation rate coefficient of Aβ1-42.     

A new class of ion-ion interaction: Z-bond

The hydrogen-bond interactions in ionic liquids have been simply described by the conventional hydrogen-bond model of A–H···B. Coupling with the strong electrostatic force, however, hydrogen bond between the cation and anion shows particular features in the geometric, energetic, electronic, and dynamic aspects, which is inherently different from that of the conventional hydrogen bond. A general model could be expressed as +[A–H···B]-, in which A and B represent heavy atoms and "+" and "–" represent the charges of the cation containing A atom and anion containing B atom, respectively. Because the structure shows a "zig-zag" motif, this coupling interaction is defined here as the Z-bond. The new model could be generally used to describe the interactions in ionic liquids, as well as bio-systems involved in ions, ionic reaction, and ionic materials.     

On the Correlation between the Blue Shift of Hydrogen Bonding and the Proton Donor-Proton Acceptor Distance

It is demonstrated that in all types of hydrogen bonds (X—H…Y) there is a balance between the long-range attractive orbital interactions and short-range Pauli/nucleus repulsions. When the proton acceptor approaches the proton donor from distance, the hydrogen bonding energy becomes more negative at relatively large distance, goes through a minimum, and then starts to become less negative when the short-range repulsive forces come into effect.Meanwhile, the X--H bond length increases at relatively large distances, goes through a maximum and starts to shorten when the short-range repulsive forces come into effect. Whether the hydrogen bond is red or blue shifted is dictated by the energy minimum position. If at the energy minimum position the X—H bond length is shorter than that for the free monomer, the hydrogen bond is blue shifted and vice versa. Further studies demonstrate that the recent report about the correlation of C—H bond lengths with proton donor-acceptor distance in F3C—H…OH2 and F3C—H…Cl^- is not fully correct because the authors conducted an inappropriate comparison. Furthermore, it is shown for the first time that the Pauli/nucleus repulsion theory is applicable to the blue-shifted hydrogen bonds in the X—H…π complexes and the blue-shifted lithium bonds in the X—Li…Y complexes.     

Unraveling weak interactions in aniline-pyrrole dimer clusters

Weak intermolecular interactions in aniline-pyrrole dimer clusters have been studied by the dispersion-corrected density functional theory(DFT) calculations. Two distinct types of hydrogen bonds are demonstrated with optimized geometric structures and largest interaction energy moduli. Comprehensive spectroscopic analysis is also addressed revealing the orientation-dependent interactions by noting the altered red-shifts of the infrared and Raman activities. Then we employ natural bond orbital(NBO)analysis and atom in molecules(AIM) theory to have determined the origin and relative energetic contributions of the weak interactions in these systems. NBO and AIM calculations confirm the V-shaped dimer cluster is dominated by N.H···N and C.H···π hydrogen bonds, while the J-aggregated isomer is stabilized by N.H···π, n→π* and weak π···π* stacking interactions.The noncovalent interactions are also demonstrated via energy decomposition analysis associated with electrostatic and dispersion contributions.     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of a 2-D Framework Supramolecular Complex [Cd2（phen）2（adip）（NO3）2]

1 INTRODUCTION In the design of crystal molecule, inorganic crystal engineering is one of the focused fields that are ever developing[1]. The introduction of different metal ions and bridging ligands often gives rise to novel physical and chemical properties[2~4]. Conse- quently, the supramolecular compounds constructed from weak interactions, such as hydrogen bond, π-π stacking, C–H???O interaction, ion-π interaction and hy- drophobing interaction, have become the new focus of cryst…     

Structure of cis-[Pt(NH_3)(2-picoline)]~(2+) and DNA adduct and its bonding characteristics

Several methods including molecular mechanics, molecular dynamics, ONIOM that combines quantum chemistry with molecular mechanics and standard quantum chemistry are used to study the configuration and electron structures of an adduct of the DMA segment d(ATACATG*G*TACATA)-d(TATGTACCATGTAT) with cis-[Pt(NH3)(2-Picoline)]2+. The investigation shows that the configuration optimized by ONIOM is similar to that determined by NMR. Strong chemical bonds between Pt of the complex and two N7s of neighboring guanines in the DNA duplex and hydrogen bond between the NH3of the complex and O6 of a nearby guanine have a large impact on the configuration of the adduct. Chemical bonds, the aforementioned hydrogen bond, and the interaction between a methyl of the complex and a methyl of the base in close proximity are critical for the complex to specifically recognize DNA.     

Stereoselective interactions of chiral dipeptides on amylose based chiral stationary phases

Dipeptides are stereo-specifically involved in several biological functions that are challenging to separate enantiomerically. Elution order of enantiomers is an important issue in chiral chromatography. Amylose tris-(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phase(CSP) is the best and most-widely-used CSP in chiral separations, but experimental data of enantiomeric separation of dipeptides on this CSP is lacking. Simulation studies were conducted to determine the order of elution and the chiral recognition mechanism of didpetides on this CSP. Results indicated that the docking energy of SR-enantiomers were higher than SS-antipodes. The range of docking energies for SR-enantiomers was -7.44 to -5.92 kcal/mol with CSP, but -7.15 to -5.87 kcal/mol for SS-stereoisomers. Therefore it is predicted that SS-enantiomer will elute first, followed by SR-antipode. Furthermore, hydrogen bondings, van der Waal’s interactions and electrostatic interactions were observed among SR- and SSenantiomers and chiral grooves of CSP. The number of hydrogen bonds was one in each enantiomer binding except S-Ala-R-Tyr, which contained two hydrogen bonds. No hydrogen bond was found in S-Ala-R-Trp, S-Leu-S-Trp, and S-Leu-S-Tyr dipeptides bindings. The chiral recognition mechanisms dictate different strengths of stereoselective bindings of the enantiomers on CSP.     

Theoretical Investigation on Interaction between Guanine and Luteolin

The interacting patterns of the luteolin and guanine have been investigated by using the density functional theory B3LYP method with 6-31＋G＊ basis set. Eighteen stable structures for the luteolin-guanine complexes have been found respectively. The results indicate that the complexes are mainly stabilized by the hydrogen bonding interactions. Meanwhile, both the number and strength of hydrogen bond play important roles in determining the stability of the complexes which can form two or more hydrogen bonds. Theories of atoms in molecules and natural bond orbital have also been utilized to investigate the hydrogen bonds involved in all the systems. The interaction energies of all the complexes which were corrected by basis set superposition error are 6.04-56.94 kJ/mol. The calculation results indicate that there are strong hydrogen bonding interactions in the luteolin-guanine complexes. We compared the interaction between luteolin and four bases of DNA, and found luteolin-thymine was the strongest and luteolin-adenine was the weakest. The interaction between luteolin and DNA bases are all stronger than luteolin-water.     

π-π interactions in the self-assembly of melamine and barbituric acid derivatives

Self-assembly of a pair of complementary molecular components, 5-(4-dodecyloxyben-zylidene)-(1H,3H)-2,4,6-pyrimidinetrione (PB12) and 4-amino-2,6-didodecylamino-1, 3, 5-triazine (M12) was studied by cyclic voltammogram, surface photovoltage spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, FTIR and X-ray diffraction. It is found that after mixing equimolar amount of PB12 and M12 at room temperature, not only triply complementary hydrogen bonds are formed between PB12 and M12 but also further self-assembly of the supermolecules based on network of hydrogen bonds occurs via π-π interactions. During the self-assembly of the supermolecules, π-π interactions are induced by delocalized interactions between the HOMO of M12 and the LUMO of PB12, resulting in the formation of a supramolecular nanotube with a layered structure bearing a d value of 0.41 nm and PB12 and M12are arranged alternatively between adjacent supermolecules.     

Theoretical Investigation on the Geometries and Properties of Guanine-BX3 （X = F, Cl） Complex

Geometries and binding energies were predicted at the B3LYP/6-311+G* level for the guanine-BX3 (X = F, Cl) systems and four isomers with no imaginary frequencies have been obtained for both guanine-BF3 and guanine-BCl3, respectively. Single energy calculations using much larger basis sets (6-311+G(2df,p) and aug-cc-pVDZ were carried out as well. It was found that the most stable isomer of guanine-BF3 is BF3 connected to N3 of guanine with the stabilization energy of –19.93 kcal/mol (BSSE corrected), while that of guanine-BCl3 is BCl3 connected to O10 of guanine having stabilization energy of –15.02 kcal/mol at the same level. The analyses for the combining interaction between BX3 and guanine with the atom-in-molecules theory (AIM) and natural bond orbital (NBO) methods have been performed. The results indicated that all the isomers are formed with σ-p type interactions between guanine and BX3, in which pyridine-type nitrogen or carbonyl oxygen or nitrogen atom of amino group offers its lone pair electrons to the empty p orbital of boron atom and the concomitance of charge transfer from guanine to BX3 has occurred. Still, one or two hydrogen bonds exist in some isomers of guanine-BX3 system and contribute to the stability of complex systems. Frequency analysis suggested that the stretching vibration of BX3 undergoes a red shift in complexes. Guanine-BF3 complex is more stable than guanine-BCl3 although the B–Y (Y=N, O) bond distance in the latter is shorter.     

Theoretical Study of Pnicogen Bonding Interactions between ECl_3(P,As) and Different Electron Donors

The pnicogen bond interaction between different electron donors(anion, π-electron, heteroatom) and ECl_3(E = As, P) was calculated by the method of MP_2/aug-cc-p VTZ. It has been indicated that the pnicogen bonds of complex formed by the anion and ECl_3 are more stable than that by the neutral electron donor, in which the pnicogen bonds of complex formed by NH_3 and ECl_3 are the most stable, and that by H_2S and ECl_3 is the least stable. The nature of pnicogen bond interaction is the closed shell interaction by AIM analysis, and BCP electron density is positively correlated to the complex interaction energy. RDG and DDF graphical analyses are performed to visualize the nature of pnicogen bond interaction from different donors, the position and strength of the pnicogen bond interaction, as well as the rearrangement of electron density after the formation of pnicogen bond system.     

High pressure,a protocol to identify the weak dihydrogen bonds:experimental evidence of C–H···H–B interaction

Pressure, as a thermodynamic parameter, provides an appropriate method to detect weak intermolecular interactions. The C–H···H–B dihydrogen bond is so weak that the experimental evidence of this interaction is still limited. A combination of in situ high pressure Raman spectra and angle-dispersive X-ray diffraction(ADXRD) experiments was utilized to explore the dihydrogen bonds in dimethylamine borane(DMAB). Both Raman and ADXRD measurements suggested that the crystal structure of DMAB is stable in the pressure region from 1 atm(1 atm=1.01325×10~5 Pa) to 0.54 GPa. The red shift of CH stretching and CH_3 distortion modes gave strong evidence for the existence of C–H···H–B dihydrogen bonds. Further analysis of Raman spectra and Hirshfeld surface confirmed our proposal. This work provided a deeper understanding of dihydrogen bonds.And we wish that high pressure could be applied to identify other unconfirmed hydrogen or dihydrogen bond.     

Computational studies of the structure and cation-anion interactions in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium lactate ionic liquid

Quantum chemical calculations of the structures and cation-anion interaction of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium lactate ([Emim][LAC]) ion pair at the B3LYP/6-31++G** theoretical level were performed. The relevant geometrical characteristics, energy properties, intermolecular H-bonds (H-bonds), and calculated IR vibrations with respect to isolated ions were systematically discussed. The natural bond orbital (NBO) and atoms in molecule (AIM) analyses were also employed to understand the nature of the interactions between cation and anion. The five most stable geometries were verified by analyzing the relative energies and interaction energies. It was found that the most of the C-H···O intermolecular H-bonds interactions in five stable conformers have some covalent character in nature. The elongation and red shift in IR spectrum of C-H bonds which involve in H-bonds is proved by electron transfers from the lone pairs of the carbonyl O atom of [LAC] to the C-H antibonding orbital of the [Emim]+. The interaction modes are more favorable when the carbonyl O atoms of [LAC] interact with the C2-H of the imidazolium ring and the C-H of the ethyl group through the formation of triple H-bonds.     

Theory Studies on the Intermolecular Interactions of Urea Nitrate with RDX

Six fully optimized geometries of urea nitrate cation and RDX complexes have been obtained with DFT-B3LYP and MP2 methods at the 6-311++G** level. The intermolecular interaction energies have been calculated with basis set superposition error (BSSE) and zero point energy (ZPE) correction. The nature of intermolecular interaction has been revealed by the analysis of AIM and NBO. The results indicate that the greatest binding energy of urea nitrate with RDX is –82.47kJ/mol. The O–H…O and N–H…O hydrogen bonds are important intermolecular interactions of urea nitrate cation with RDX, and the origin of hydrogen bonds is the oxygen atom offering its lone-pair electrons to the σ(O-H)* or σ(O-H)* antibonding orbital. The intermolecular interactions strengthen the N–NO2 bond, leading to the reduced sensitivity of urea nitrate and RDX mixture explosive.     

Self-assembly of Bis[2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-pyridine]Copper(Ⅱ) Induced by C-H…π and π…π Stacking Interaction

Introduction The control of molecular assembly in the solid state is an important theme of modern chemistry.It is in this regard that there is an activity in the area of supramolecular structures at present.The self-assembly of molecules can form well-defined supramolecular structures under the influence of drive forces such as hydrogen bonds[1-3],metal-ligand coordination bonds[4-6] and π…π stacking interactions[7-10].Word et al.have described the co-ordination chemistry of polydentate chelating ligands which contain mixed pyridine-phenol donor sets[11].Some unusual structures of transition metal pyridine-phenol complexes have been established in which non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding and π…π stacking appear to play a dominant part.These observations suggest that it might be possible to construct supramolecular structures with a metal pyridine-phenol system.To explore this idea we have begun to investigate the self-assembly properties of metal pyridine-phenol complexes.Herein we present the self-assembly properties of Cu(pp)2[pp=2-(2-hydroxyphenol)-pyridine] under different conditions.