New-generation amber united-atom force field

We have developed a new-generation Amber united-atom force field for simulations involving highly demanding conformational sampling such as protein folding and protein-protein binding. In the new united-atom force field, all hydrogens on aliphatic carbons in all amino acids are united with carbons except those on Calpha. Our choice of explicit representation of all protein backbone atoms aims at minimizing perturbation to protein backbone conformational distributions and to simplify development of backbone torsion terms. Tests with dipeptides and solvated proteins show that our goal is achieved quite successfully. The new united-atom force field uses the same new RESP charging scheme based on B3LYP/cc-pVTZ//HF/6-31g** quantum mechanical calculations in the PCM continuum solvent as that in the Duan et al. force field. van der Waals parameters are empirically refitted starting from published values with respect to experimental solvation free energies of amino acid side-chain analogues. The suitability of mixing new point charges and van der Waals parameters with existing Amber covalent terms is tested on alanine dipeptide and is found to be reasonable. Parameters for all new torsion terms are refitted based on the new point charges and the van der Waals parameters. Molecular dynamics simulations of three small globular proteins in the explicit TIP3P solvent are performed to test the overall stability and accuracy of the new united-atom force field. Good agreements between the united-atom force field and the Duan et al. all-atom force field for both backbone and side-chain conformations are observed. In addition, the per-step efficiency of the new united-atom force field is demonstrated for simulations in the implicit generalized Born solvent. A speedup around two is observed over the Duan et al. all-atom force field for the three tested small proteins. Finally, the efficiency gain of the new united-atom force field in conformational sampling is further demonstrated with a well-known toy protein folding system, an 18 residue polyalanine in distance-dependent dielectric. The new united-atom force field is at least a factor of 200 more efficient than the Duan et al. all-atom force field for ab initio folding of the tested peptide.     

Acetamide, a challenge to theory and experiment? On the molecular structure, conformation, potential to internal rotation of the methyl group and force fields of free acetamide as studied by quantum chemical calculations

The molecular geometry has been optimized without any constraints using different basis sets and levels of theory as: Hartree-Fock with basis sets 6–31+G**, 6–311++G**, cc-pVTZ and aug-cc-pVTZ, MP2 with basis sets 6–311++G** and cc-pVTZ, MP3 with basis set 6–311++G**, and density functional theory with basis sets 6–311++G** and cc-pVTZ. Small basis sets up to 6-31G predict the syn conformation of the methyl group to be the most stable conformation. Larger basis sets predict an unsymmetrical conformation with one of the H atoms perpendicular to the amide skeleton or an anti-like conformation. Dunnings correlation consistent polarized valence triple zeta, cc-pVTZ, basis set including MP2 predict two conformations, one perpendicular and one anti to be the most stable. The DFT calculations predict anti-like conformations. The most accurate calculations predict anti-like conformations which have not been predicted previously. The vibrational frequencies have been calculated for several basis sets and compared to the observed frequencies. The wagging frequency of the NH₂ is very dependent on the basis sets and levels of theory. Most calculations predict a planar NH₂ group in agreement with experiment. A scaled molecular force field has been determined by fitting the calculated frequencies to the observed ones for the perpendicular conformation using MP2/cc-pVTZ. The barrier heights for the methyl group have been calculated. The rotational constants, I_A + I_B − I_C values and dipole moments are compared with experimental values.     

Vibrational spectra and ab initio analysis of tert-butyl, trimethylsilyl, trimethylgermyl, and trimethylstannyl derivatives of 3,3-dimethylcyclopropene VIII. 3,3-Dimethyl-1,2-bis-(trimethylstannyl)cyclopropene

The quantum mechanical force fields of 3,3-dimethyl-1,2-bis-(tert-butyl)cyclopropene (I), 3,3-dimethyl-1,2-bis-(trimethylsilyl)cyclopropene (II), 3,3-dimethyl-1,2-bis-(trimethylgermyl)cyclopropene (III), and 3,3-dimethyl-1,2-bis-(trimethylstannyl)cyclopropene (IV) were calculated at the HF/3-21G*//HF/3-21G* level. The scale factors which were optimized previously for the HF/3-21G*//HF/3-21G* quantum mechanical force field of 3,3-dimethyl-1-(trimethylsilyl)cyclopropene were used for correction of the force fields of these molecules. Good agreement between the frequencies calculated from these scaled force fields and the well-analyzed and assigned experimental frequencies of II and III suggests the transferability of these scale factors and the possibility of the spectroscopically accurate prediction of the vibrational spectrum of IV. Some regularities in the changes of the vibrational frequencies were found for this molecular series.     

Structure and vibrational frequencies of 2-butanimine

The conformational behavior and structural stability of 2-butanimine were investigated by utilizing ab initio calculations with 6-311++G** basis set at HF, MP2, B3LYP and BLYP levels. The vibrational frequencies of 2-butanimine were computed. Complete vibrational assignments were made on the basis of normal coordinate calculations for stable conformer of the molecule. HF results without scaled quantum mechanical (SQM) force field procedure considered are in bad agreement with experimental values. Of the two DFT methods, BLYP reproduces the observed fundamental frequencies most satisfactorily with the mean absolute deviation of the non-CH stretching modes less than 21.3 cm(-1). The results indicate that BLYP calculation is a very promising approach for understanding the observed spectral features.     

A coupled-cluster study of the structure and vibrational spectra of pyrazole and imidazole

Harmonic force fields were calculated at the corresponding optimized geometries for pyrazole and imidazole at the HF, B3LYP, MP2, CCSD and CCSD(T) levels using the 6-31G* basis set and at the HF and B3LYP levels using the cc-pVTZ basis set. The agreement between the calculated and experimental geometries by the CCSD and CCSD(T) methods was generally similar to that obtained with the B3LYP and MP2 methods. The force fields were scaled using one-scale-factor (1SF), 3SF and 7SF scaling schemes. The scale factors were varied with respect to the experimental frequencies. Using 7SF scaling, the root-mean-square (RMS) deviation of the calculated frequencies from the experimental frequencies by the HF, B3LYP, MP2, CCSD and CCSD(T) methods and the 6-31G* basis set was 16, 7, 13, 11 and 11 cm(-1), respectively. This shows that the B3LYP method is preferred for force field calculations over the perturbative MP2, CCSD and CCSD(T) methods. Using 1SF scaling, the CCSD(T) scale factor was 0.931, the highest among the five methods used but close to that obtained with the B3LYP method and the cc-pVTZ basis set with lower RMS deviation.     

The structure, Raman spectra, and force fields of methylbromosilanes CH3SiClnBr3−n (n = 0, 1, 2)

The laser-excited Raman spectra of liquid CH₃SiCl_nBr_3?n (n = 0, 1, 2) were studied. Quantumchemical calculations of these substances with geometry optimization were performed to determine their harmonic force fields and vibrational frequencies. The calculations were made using the HF/6-31G* and HF/6-311++G** approximations and density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31G* and B3LYP/6-311++G** levels. An interpretation of the spectra was suggested and the calculated force fields were discussed in comparison with the data on related compounds.     

FC(O)NCS 分子振动光谱的理论研究

采用DFT(B3LYP)方法,以6-3G*为基组对FC(O)NCS的顺式和反式两种构型的几何结构,振动谐性力场和红外光谱进行了研究。B3LYP/6-31G*计算水平和大多数有机分子的一套固定标度因子进行标度。根据标度后的理论力场进行简正坐标分析得到的势能分布(PED)和红外光谱强度值对FC(O)NCS分子的顺式和反式两种构型的振动基频进行了理论归属。     

Solvation free energies calculated using the GB/SA model: Sensitivity of results on charge sets,protocols, and force fields

The sensitivity of aqueous solvation free energies (SFEs), estimated using the GB/SA continuum solvent model, on charge sets, protocols, and force fields, was studied. Simple energy calculations using the GB/SA solvent model were performed on 11 monofunctional organic compounds. Results indicate that calculated SFEs are strongly dependent on the charge sets. Charges derived from electrostatic potential fitting to high level ab initio wave functions using the CHELPG procedure and “class IV” charges from AM1/CM1a or PM3/CM1p calculations yielded better results than the corresponding Mulliken charges. Calculated SFEs were similar to MC/FEP energies obtained in the presence of explicit TIP4P water. Further improvements were obtained by using GVB/6-31G** and MP2/6-31+G** (CHELPG) charge sets that included correlation effects. SFEs calculated using charge sets assigned by the OPLSA* force field gave the best results of all standard force fields (MM2*, MM3*, MMFF, AMBER*, and OPLSA*) implemented in MacroModel. Comparison of relative and absolute SFEs computed using either the GB/SA continuum model or MC/FEP calculations in the presence of explicit TIP4P water showed that, in general, relative SFEs can be estimated with greater accuracy. A second set of 20 mono- and difunctional molecules was also studied and relative SFEs estimated using energy minimization and thermodynamic cycle perturbation (TCP) protocols. SFEs calculated from TCP calculations using the GB/SA model were sensitive to bond lengths of dummy bonds (i.e., bonds involving dummy atoms). In such cases, keeping the bond lengths of dummy bonds close to the corresponding bond lengths of the starting structures improved the agreement of TCP-calculated SFEs with energy minimization results. Overall, these results indicate that GB/SA solvation free energy estimates from simple energy minimization calculations are of similar accuracy and value to those obtained using more elaborate TCP protocols. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 19: 769–780, 1998     

Infrared spectra of dimethylphenanthrenes in the gas phase

Infrared spectra of atmospherically and astronomically important dimethylphenanthrenes (DMPs), namely 1,9-DMP, 2,4-DMP, and 3,9-DMP, were recorded in the gas phase from 400 to 4000 cm(-1) with a resolution of 0.5 cm(-1) at 110 °C using a 7.2 m gas cell. DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-311G** level were carried out to get the harmonic and anharmonic frequencies and their corresponding intensities for the assignment of the observed bands. However, spectral assignments could not be made unambiguously using anharmonic or selectively scaled harmonic frequencies. Therefore, the scaled quantum mechanical (SQM) force field analysis method was adopted to achieve more accurate assignments. In this method force fields instead of frequencies were scaled. The cartesian force field matrix obtained from the gaussian calculations was converted to a nonredundant local coordinate force field matrix and then the force fields were scaled to match experimental frequencies in a consistent manner using a modified version of the UMAT program of the QCPE package. Potential energy distributions (PEDs) of the normal modes in terms of nonredundant local coordinates obtained from these calculations helped us derive the nature of the vibration at each frequency. The intensity of observed bands in the experimental spectra was calculated using estimated vapor pressures of the DMPs. An error analysis of the mean deviation between experimental and calculated intensities reveal that the observed methyl C-H stretching intensity deviates more compared to the aromatic C-H and non C-H stretching bands.     

Fast,efficient generation of high-quality atomic charges. AM1-BCC model: II. Parameterization and validation

We present the first global parameterization and validation of a novel charge model, called AM1-BCC, which quickly and efficiently generates high-quality atomic charges for computer simulations of organic molecules in polar media. The goal of the charge model is to produce atomic charges that emulate the HF/6-31G* electrostatic potential (ESP) of a molecule. Underlying electronic structure features, including formal charge and electron delocalization, are first captured by AM1 population charges; simple additive bond charge corrections (BCCs) are then applied to these AM1 atomic charges to produce the AM1-BCC charges. The parameterization of BCCs was carried out by fitting to the HF/6-31G* ESP of a training set of >2700 molecules. Most organic functional groups and their combinations were sampled, as well as an extensive variety of cyclic and fused bicyclic heteroaryl systems. The resulting BCC parameters allow the AM1-BCC charging scheme to handle virtually all types of organic compounds listed in The Merck Index and the NCI Database. Validation of the model was done through comparisons of hydrogen-bonded dimer energies and relative free energies of solvation using AM1-BCC charges in conjunction with the 1994 Cornell et al. forcefield for AMBER.(13) Homo- and hetero-dimer hydrogen-bond energies of a diverse set of organic molecules were reproduced to within 0.95 kcal/mol RMS deviation from the ab initio values, and for DNA dimers the energies were within 0.9 kcal/mol RMS deviation from ab initio values. The calculated relative free energies of solvation for a diverse set of monofunctional isosteres were reproduced to within 0.69 kcal/mol of experiment. In all these validation tests, AMBER with the AM1-BCC charge model maintained a correlation coefficient above 0.96. Thus, the parameters presented here for use with the AM1-BCC method present a fast, accurate, and robust alternative to HF/6-31G* ESP-fit charges for general use with the AMBER force field in computer simulations involving organic small molecules.     

Origin of intrinsic 3(10)-helix versus strand stability in homopolypeptides and its implications for the accuracy of the Amber force field

Current all-atom force fields often fail to recognize the native structure of a protein as the lowest free energy minimum. One possible cause could be the mathematical form of the potential based on the assumption that the conformation of a residue is independent of its neighbors. Here, using quantum mechanical (QM) methods (MP2/6-31g**//HF/6-31g** and MP2/cc-pVDZ//cc-pVDZ//HF/cc-pVDZ), the intrinsic correctness of the gas phase terms (without solvation) of the Amber ff03 and ff99 potentials are examined by testing their ability to reproduce the relative 3(10)-helix versus extended structure stabilities in the gas phase for 1-7-residue alanine, valine, leucine, and isoleucine homopolypeptides. The 3(10)-helix versus extended state stability strongly depends on chain length and less on the amino acid identity. The helical conformation becomes lower in energy than the extended conformation for all tested peptides longer than two residues, and its stability increases with the increase of chain length. The ff03 potential better describes the 3(10)-helix versus extended state energy than ff99 and also reproduces the curvature of the relative helix-extended state energies. Therefore, the mathematical form of the Amber potential is sufficient to describe the local effect of 3(10)-helix versus extended structure stabilization in the gas phase. However, the energy curves are shifted and the backbone geometries differ compared with the QM results. This may cause significant geometric discrepancies between native and predicted structures. Therefore, extant molecular mechanics force fields, such as Amber, need refinement of their parameters to correctly describe helix-extended state energetics and geometry of major conformations.     

Si~2Cl~6分子的内旋转能垒和振动基频的理论研究

用从头算方法HF/6-31G^*^*和密度函方法B3LYP/6-31G^*^*,对Si~2Cl~6分子的平衡几何构型进行优化,优化的结果与实验结果吻合得较好.并用上述两种不同的方法计算Si~2Cl~6分子的内旋转能垒,结果分别为8.786和6.694kJ/mol,其中DFT方法的计算结果与实验结果4.18kJ/mol吻合得较好.对Si~2Cl~6分子的振动基频进行计算.用HF/6-31G^*^*SQM力场所计算的频率理论值与实验值的平均误差为7.3cm^-^1,用B3LYP/6-31G^*^*未标度的力场所计算的频率理论值与实验值的平均误差为6.0cm^-^1.该密度泛函方法(B3LYP/~6-31G^*^*)的理论计算值比用HF/6-31G^*^*标度后的SQM力场计算的频率与实验值(除Si--Si键扭转振动基频之外的11条振动基频)吻合得更好.并给出了Si--Si键扭转振动基频的预测值。     

Vibrational spectra and ab initio analysis of tert-butyl, trimethylsilyl, trimethylgermyl, and trimethylstannyl derivatives of 3,3-dimethylcyclopropene VII. 3,3-Dimethyl-1-(trimethylstannyl) cyclopropene

The quantum mechanical force fields (QMFF's) of 3,3-dimethyl-1-(tert-butyl)cyclopropene (I), 3,3-dimethyl-1-(trimethylsilyl)cyclopropene (II), 3,3-dimethyl-1-(trimethylgermyl)cyclopropene (III), and 3,3-dimethyl-1-(trimethylstannyl)cyclopropene (IV) were calculated at the HF/3-21G*//HF/3-21G* level. The set of scale factors for the correction of HF/3-21G*//HF/3-21G* QMFF of II was determined using its well-characterised vibrational spectrum. Transferral of the set of scale factors obtained for II to the QMFF's of I, III and IV and calculation of the fundamental frequencies resulted in good agreement between the calculated and previously assigned experimental frequencies of III. This again demonstrates the feasibility of transferral of a set of scale factors obtained for the correction of the QMFF of a molecule to others containing heteroatoms from the same column of the Mendeleyev Periodic Table. Thus the calculations performed permitted the accurate assignment of the fundamental vibrational frequencies in the experimental IR spectrum of IV. The vibrational frequencies of 3,3-dimethyl-1-(tert-butyl)cyclopropene (I) were also calculated from the HF/6-31G*//HF/6-31G* QMFF, scaled by the set of scale factors used previously for the HF/6-31G*//HF/6-31G* QMFF's of II and III. Regularities in the trends of some vibrational frequencies with increasing atomic number of the heteroatom are observed.     

Vibrational anharmonicity and harmonic force fields for dichloromethane from quantum-chemical calculations

Anharmonic and related constants have been calculated for CH2Cl2, CD2Cl2, and CHDCl2 by using the program Gaussian03 and B3LYP and MP2 models. Bases used were 6-311++G** and cc-pVTZ. The size of grid used in the B3LYP/6-311++G** model had a noticeable effect on resulting data. Features of the MP2/6-311++G** calculations suggested a deleterious effect of the absence of f functions in this basis set. The need for the replacement of second-order terms in the perturbation theory formulas for the vibrational anharmonic constants x ij in the presence of Fermi resonance was explored, and minor resonances were found associated with the cubic constants varphi 122 and varphi 299 (d 0 isotopomer), phi122 and phi849 (d2), and phi278 (d1). Computed xij values for nuCH and nuCD motions agree quite well with earlier experimental data. Observed anharmonic frequencies, nu obsd, were corrected to "observed" harmonic frequencies, omega obsd, by using computed differences Delta = omegaQC-nuQC. These differences Delta are larger for the antisymmetric nuasCH2 mode than for symmetric nusCH2 motion. This fact made it necessary to use differing scale factors for the two kinds of CH stretching force constants in a subsequent scaling of the harmonic force field to nuobsd. Force field scaling was also carried out by refining to omega obsd. In both approaches, the B3LYP models required differing scale factors for symmetric and antisymmetric CCl stretching force constants, indicating a failure to compute an accurate C-Cl stretch-stretch interaction force constant. The MP2/cc-pVTZ force field was preferred. Both scaled and unscaled harmonic force fields were used to calculate centrifugal distortion constants (CDCs) and contributions to the vibrational dependence of the rotational constants (alphas). Variations in the CDCs can, in part, be explained by the magnitudes of the frequencies used in the scaling process.     

Ab initio, density functional theory and structural studies of 4-amino-2-methylquinoline

The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and FT-Raman spectra of 4-amino-2-methylquinoline (AMQ) have been recorded in the range 4000–400 and 4000–100 cm⁻¹, respectively. The experimental vibrational frequency was compared with the wavenumbers obtained theoretically by ab initio HF and DFT–B3LYP gradient calculations employing the standard 6-31G** and high level 6-311++G** basis sets for optimised geometry of the compound. The complete vibrational assignment and analysis of the fundamental modes of the compounds were carried out using the experimental FTIR and FT-Raman data, and quantum mechanical studies. The geometry and normal modes of vibration obtained from the HF and DFT methods are in good agreement with the experimental data. The potential energy distribution of the fundamental modes was calculated with ab initio force fields utilising Wilson's FG matrix method. The NH-π interactions and the influence of amino and methyl groups on the skeletal modes are investigated.     

Continuum treatment of electronic polarization effect

A continuum treatment of electronic polarization has been explored for in molecular mechanics simulations in implicit solvents. The dielectric constant for molecule interior is the only parameter in the continuum polarizable model. A value of 4 is found to yield optimal agreement with high-level ab initio quantum mechanical calculations for the tested molecular systems. Interestingly, its performance is not sensitive to the definition of molecular volume, in which the continuum electronic polarization is defined. In this model, quantum mechanical electrostatic field in different dielectric environments from vacuum, low-dielectric organic solvent, and water can be used simultaneously in atomic charge fitting to achieve consistent treatment of electrostatic interactions. The tests show that a single set of atomic charges can be used consistently in different dielectric environments and different molecular conformations, and the atomic charges transfer well from training monomers to tested dimers. The preliminary study gives us the hope of developing a continuum polarizable force field for more consistent simulations of proteins and nucleic acids in implicit solvents.     

应用ABEEM/MM蛋白质力场模型研究半胱氨酸二肽构象的性质

ABEEM/MM蛋白质力场模型是应用于蛋白质体系的原子-键电负性均衡方法(ABEEM)与力场(MM)相结合的浮动电荷模型.该模型能够准确地描述分子在环境变化时的静电极化,并能快速计算气态和溶液多肽的结构和能量.首次应用ABEEM/MM蛋白质力场模型研究半胱氨酸二肽构象的性质,如构象能、氢键等.此外,应用从头计算HF/6-31G**方法对其性质进行计算.ABEEM/MM蛋白质力场模型可以快速准确地得到半胱氨酸二肽分子不同稳定构象的性质,其结果可以和从头计算相媲美.以上研究有助于加深对半胱氨酸二肽构象性质的了解,从而也为进一步验证ABEEM/MM蛋白质力场模型的正确性以及参数的合理性提供可靠的依据.     

An effective scaling frequency factor method for scaling of harmonic vibrational frequencies: Application to 1,2,4-triazole derivatives

Scaling of harmonic frequencies of a molecule is one of the methods of improving the agreement between the calculated from a quadratic force field and experimental vibrational spectrum. An application of the recently proposed effective scaling frequency factor (ESFF) method to the complicated 1,2,4-triazole derivatives is presented. The calculations are based on the DFT/B3LYP/6-311G** quadratic force fields. It is shown that the ESFF method is capable of providing the high-quality spectra with regard to the scaled frequencies, comparable to these obtained with the well-established scaled quantum mechanical (SQM) force field method. Using the recommended scaling factors for the 11-parameter calculations, the RMS value obtained for a set of 293 vibrational modes of four compounds is only 8.7 and 8.5 cm^?1, for SQM and ESFF, respectively, provided the hydrogen bonded CO bond was excluded from the general non-hydrogen XX stretch group, and the scaling factor attributed to this bond was optimized. The new, 9-parameter set of scaling factors provides SQM- and ESFF-scaled frequencies that are of comparable quality to those of the 11-parameter calculations. In addition, it provides (on average) more reliable band splittings in the middle region of the spectrum, and the order of the scaled frequencies corresponds to that of the experimental bands. The straightforward application of the ESFF method to estimate the value of the scaled frequency is also presented.     

Vibrational spectra and ab initio analysis of tert-butyl,trimethylsilyl, and trimethylgermyl derivatives of 3,3-dimethylcyclopropene III. 3,3-Dimethyl-1-(trimethylsilyl)cyclopropene

The experimental Raman and IR vibrational spectra of 3,3-dimethyl-1-(trimethylsilyl)cyclopropene in the liquid phase were recorded. Total geometry optimisation was carried out at the HF/6-31G* level and the HF/6-31G*//HF/6-31G* force field was computed. This force field was corrected by scale factors determined previously (using Pulay's method) for correction of the HF/6-31G*//HF/6-31G* force fields of 3,3-dimethylbutene-1, 1-methyl-, 1,2-dimethyl-, and 3,3-dimethylcyclopropene. The theoretical vibrational frequencies calculated from the scaled quantum mechanical force field and the theoretical intensities obtained from the quantum mechanical calculation were used to construct predicted spectra and to perform the vibrational analysis of the experimental spectra.