Molecular orbital study of the structure and interactions of ylidene rhodanines

Semiempirical (with the AM1 Hamiltonian) and ab initio (mainly with the 6-31G^* and LANL2DZ+ +(d,p) basis sets) molecular oribital calculations show the predominant tautomer of gas phase methylidene rhodanine is 2-thioxo-4-thiazolidinone in agreement with earlier work on other types of rhodanines. Inclusion of solvation effects in the AM1 calculations corroborates with this tautomer is also preferred in aqueous solution. Energy-optimized bond lengths and angles show good agreement with those for a crystalline benzylidene rhodanine. The geometry of a hydrogen bonded dimer matches closely the crystalline state arrangement. The two N-H O hydrogen bonds that form in the dimer. provide a stabilization energy of about - 10 kcal/mol. The interactions of methylidene rhodanine with a calcium ion are modeled with basis sets as large as LANL2DZ+ +(d,p). The preferred binding site is near the carbonyl oxygen for the neutral rhodanine and near the nitrogen and thione sulfur in a bidentate arrangement for the rhodanine anion. Implications for the interaction of benzylidene rhodanines with various possible protein and metalloprotein receptors are discussed.