Theoretical studies on pteridines. 2. Geometries,tautomer, ionization and reduction energies of substrates and inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase

Ab initio SCF calculations with STO-3G and 3-21G basis sets are reported for approximately 85 pteridines of interest to the study of the reaction and inhibition mechanisms of dihydrofolate reductase. These include tautomeric, protonated, deprotonated, reduced and 6-substituted forms of the 2-amino-4-oxo- and 2,4-diamino-pteridines, many of which are not easily amenable to experimental investigation. Full geometry optimizations at the SCF/STO-3G level for 30 such pteridines have been performed. A step-wise computational protocol designed to identify the minimum level of theory necessary for reliable prediction of relative tautomer, reduction and ionization energies has been developed in an effort to minimize the cost of calculations for this reasonably large N-heterobicylic system. In general, SCF/STO-3G results were found to be inadequate while SCF/3-21G results obtained with STO-3G optimized geometries agreed with all available experimental evidence with the exception of the relative acidity of 6-methyl-7,8-dihydropterin. Correlation graphs relating experimental pK_a's to the calculated ionization energies are presented: these are of potential predictive value. An analysis is given of the importance of resonance substructures, such as the guanidinium and extended-guanidinium groups, in stabilizing some preferred tautomeric and ionized forms, and in explaining the observed geometry changes.