Conformation analysis of formic acid. Extended basis set SCF and CEPA calculations

SCF computations using extended DZP and TZP basis sets have been performed to determine the structure of syn and anti formic acid and the transition state for rotation of the OH group. Effects of electron correlation were accounted for by means of CEPA calculations which predict the anti conformer to be 5 kcal/mol and the transition state 14.7 kcal/mol higher in energy than the syn conformer, with probable error estimates of 0.7 kcal/mol and 2 kcal/mol respectively.     

Theoretical studies on the conformation of saccharides

Conformations of 2-methoxytetrahydropyran as a model for the six-membered ring in aldopyranosides have been calculated by the PCILO method using the algorithm of the conjugated gradient to optimize the geometry. The calculated geometry of the fourteen basic forms of 2-methoxytetrahydropyran was found to be in agreement with the available data obtained by X-ray diffraction of pyranosides. The results indicate differences in the geometry of 2-methoxytetrahydropyran resulting from the change of the axial vs. equatorial position of the methoxyl group. These changes are particularly meaningful in the values of bond angles and they are in agreement with the anomeric and exoanomeric effects. The experimentally found differences in the energies of an axial (⁴ C ₁) and equatorial (¹ C ₄) conformer, G = 2.9–3.7 kJ/mol, and the dipole moment, = 1.20 ± 0.05 D (1D = 3.33 10^–30mAs) agree well with the calculated values E = 3.18 kJ/mol and <> = 1.18 D which, in turn, suggest that the axial conformer is preferred over the equatorial one by a ratio a:e = 78:22.     

Molecular orbital studies on the conformation of GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid)

In distinction to Extended Hückel Theory which predicts as the most stable conformation of free zwitterionic GABA a totally extended form, PCILO and SCF ab initio studies show that the intrinsically preferred conformation of the isolated molecule is a highly folded one, resulting from strong interactions between the two charged ends. Computations are also carried out for hydrated GABA in the supermolecule approach allowing moreover for the flexibility of binding of some of the water molecules of the first hydration shell. They predict the coexistence in solution of a large number of conformations showing different degrees of folding (or extension), a result confirmed by recent NMR studies. This and a number of similar results show that we have to adapt our thinking on the role of conformations in pharmacological activity to this situation, which was frequently obscured by the more abundant results of X-ray crystallography yielding a single conformation.     

Band structure of nonclassical polymers

It is shown that fully conjugated alternant nonclassical polymers are comparatively stable systems as a result of the considerable delocalisation energy.The energy characteristics of the polymers are strongly determined by the electron spin distribution of the degenerate nonbonding molecular orbitals; the full spin configuration,S>0, is favoured. The spin densities depend on the electron correlation and alternate; this corresponds to a ferrimagnetic state of the polymer at 0°K.     

A non-empirical molecular orbital study on the relative stabilities of adenine and guanine tautomers

The relative stabilities of a series of adenine and guanine tautomers have been calculated using anab initio Hartree-Fock-Roothaan SCF MO method. The calculated relative stabilities agree in general with the results of earlier semiempirical studies. According to the present study, tautomeric forms with regular Kekulé structure for the six-membered purine ring are the most stable. The amine-imine tautomerization of purine bases is not likely to be responsible for spontaneous mutations in DNA.     

Comments on the electronic properties of cyclopropane,cyclobutane, and cyclohexane

Spectral quantities of cyclopropane, cyclobutane, cyclohexane, and of several derivatives, have been calculated by a semiempirical all-valence electron SCF-CI MO method. In cyclopropane, HOMO is practically localized in the carbon-frame, and LVMO is purely so. In cyclobutane, these two MO's are based on C-H bonds, while cyclohexane holds an intermediate position. Despite the overall similarity-experimental and computed-of the spectra of these molecules, assignments are non-parallel. Like cyclopropane, cyclobutane can extend conjugation, but to a diminished degree; cyclohexane behaves in this respect like an acyclic alkane. An interpretation of this gradation, in terms of the nature of high-lying MO's, is proposed.     

Configuration interaction methods for improving unrestricted Hartree-Fock spin densities

Limited Configuration Interaction wave functions based on Unrestricted Hartree-Fock natural orbitals are found to be easy to compute and to give much more satisfactory spin densities than are provided by techniques currently in use.     

Theory of isomer shift in hemin

Using the self-consistent charge extended Hückel procedure, the charge density difference at Fe⁵⁷ nucleus, between hemin and Fe⁺³ ion is calculated. This is combined with the recent value of the calibration constant, –0.23±0.02a ₀ ³ mm/sec to obtain an isomer shift of –0.374 mm/sec between hemin and Fe⁺³ in good agreement with the value –0.392 mm/sec derived from experimental data and the calculated value of the isomer shift of Fe⁺³ with respect to K₃FeF₆ from first principle covalency investigations in the latter compound. is composed of contributions from core and valence electrons of the same order of magnitude, with the latter being more than one-half of the former. The core contribution is composed of a number of terms of comparable magnitude and differing signs, whose significance is discussed.Supported by grant HL 15196-02 from the Heart and Lung Institute of National Institute of Health.     

On the use of pseudopotentials in molecular calculations

A series of tests was performed of the Kahn-Goddard-Melius-Topiol pseudopotentials in view of their utilization with small contracted basis sets in molecular computations. The effects of inner-shell separability and of basis set contraction are underlined. The utilizability of Topiol's valence least-squares fitted Gaussian basis sets is studied.     

Electronic structure of unstable intermediates

The geometry of the linear molecule HBO, has been investigated within the restricted Hartree-Fock LCAO-MO-SCF approximation. The calculated bond lengths for the near Hartree-Fock calculation were R(H-B)=2.1913 bohr, R(B-O)=2.2284 bohr. Several one electron properties have been calculated for the minimum energy configuration.     

Iterative natural orbitals for configuration interaction using perturbation theory

Approximate natural orbitals are determined iteratively from CI expansions constructed using first-order perturbation theory in order to investigate the possibility of eliminating the complete transformation of MO integrals on each iteration. Results on LiH and H₂O are compared with fully variationally determined NO's to assess questions of convergence.     

A new approach to variational CI calculations on systems containing non-interacting molecules

A new method to perform variational CI calculations on systems containing non-interacting molecules is presented.     

Ab initio Calculations of the potential energy surface of the reaction of singlet methylene with the hydrogen molecule

The potential energy surface for the insertion of singlet methylene into H₂ has been computed on theab initio SCF level as well as with inclusion of electron correlation by means of the CEPA method. The results are compared with those of previous semiempirical,ab initio SCF and CI calculations. The system is a prototype of a reaction where an allowed and a symmetry-forbidden path can compete. The electron correlation energy was found to be very different for different regions of the surface, but did not have much influence on the optimum reaction path. From the computed heat of the reaction, the heat of formation of singlet methylene was estimated to be 101.5 kcal/mol. According to the calculations the reaction does not need any activation energy.     

Structure and properties of non-classical polymers II. Band structure and spin densities

Theoretical investigation of the band structure of three types of nonclassical polymers, namely alternant (one- and two-dimensional), nonalternant and heteroatomic, are carried out. Although polyradicals, these polymers have a considerable delocalization energy which may determine their relative stability.The spin-density distribution of the alternant type of non-classical polymers corresponds to a ferrimagnetic ground state at 0 K.The non-classical polymers represent a new class of organic systems as their band structure and magnetic properties essentially differ from those of common polymers.     

Etude théorique de la conformation des complexes moléculaires de type donneur accepteur d'électrons

The stabilisation energy of donor acceptor molecular complexes given by tetracyanoethylene with thiazole and phenylthiazoles have been calculated by several semiempirical approaches. The results obtained with the Extended Hückel theory, the CNDO/2 method and the PCILO method, the latter a perturbative one, are compared and this comparison shows that the PCILO method is well adapted to the study of molecular complexes. The different contributions to the stabilisation energy and the origin of the intermolecular forces have been discussed in relation to the geometry of the complex. For all the studied complexes, the calculated results obtained by the PCILO method agree very well with experiments.

     

On bridging the gap between extended Hückel and NDO Type LCAO-MO theories

The possibility of incorporating overlap effects as well as electron interaction terms in simple LCAO-MO theories is discussed. A recent suggestion by de Bruijn is criticized and a revised scheme is developed.     

Conformational analysis of dimethylphosphate with quantum-mechanical and classical methods

In order to shed light on the conformational behavior of polynucleotide chains, and in particular to clarify the origins of the barriers to internal rotation in the phosphodiester linkage, we computed, with a quantum-mechanical ab initio procedure, the energies associated to 86 combinations of the two torsion angles in the dimethylphosphate anion (CH₃O)₂PO₂ ^–, and then we sought for an analytical expression apt to reproduce these energies with the highest possible accuracy. An excellent agreement (standard deviation of the fitted energies from the ab initio energies 0.28 kcal/mole) with the quantum-mechanical calculations was reached with a potential consisting of four terms: 1) a 6–12 Lennard-Jones contribution, in which different parameters are used to describe the interactions of methyls with the ester oxygens and with the anionic oxygens; 2) a contribution with twofold periodicity, accounting for the anomeric effects connected to the interactions between the lone pair electrons and the polar bonds of phosphorus with the anionic oxygens; 3) a contribution with threefold periodicity, representing the usual bond-staggering term; and 4) a Coulombic contribution, arising from electrostatic interactions between partially charged atoms.     

Band structure of even and ions of odd polyenes

The analysis of experimental data for singlet transitions (E _n) of even polyenes (I), cations (II) and anions (III) of odd polyenes show that for infinite chains E (I)/E (II)=E (I)/E (III) = 2:1. It is shown that the energy gap is equal for the three systems. In cases (II) and (III) there is a level (NBMO) in the gap which is vacant in (II) and occupied in (III). That is why the first optical transition in (II) and (III) depends on the semiwidth of the gap.     

An EHT re-examination of Acetylcholine

The results of EHT calculations on the most stable conformations of the neurotransmitter molecule acetylcholine (ACh) are reported. These results are compared with those obtained with other semiempirical quantum mechanical methods CNDO/2, INDO and PCILO, and with those obtained by the classical partitioning of the energy method (PEM). From this comparison it becomes evident a wide agreement between the results of PCILO, EHT and PEM, all these methods allowing accessibility to discrete regions in conformational space.This work has been carried out with financial support of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche.     

A theoretical study of electrophilic reactions

The electronic structures of protonated formyl and acetylium cations and their deprotonation paths leading to HCO⁺, COH⁺ and CH₃CO⁺have been studied by means of ab initio calculations. The results support Olah's theory that dipositive species can be the de facto reagents in electrophilic reactions.