Quantum-chemical Structure-Activity Relationships in carbamate insecticides

Computational chemistry study of toxicity of some m-tolyl acetate derivatives insecticides and molecular design of structurally related products

Molecular descriptors (including quantum chemical, topological and physicochemical descriptors) were calculated for five m-tolyl derivatives insecticides [namely, carbosulfan (CBS), carbofuran (CBF), isoprocab (IFP), methiocarb (MTC) and isocarbophos (ICP)]. Calculated quantum chemical parameters included the total energy, the electronic energy, the binding energy, the core-core repulsion energy, the heat of formation, the dipole moment and the frontier molecular orbital energies. All the calculated quantum chemical parameters (except dipole moment) exhibited strong correlation with the experimental LD₅₀ values of the studied insecticides (at various Hamiltonians). Calculated topological parameters included the molecular topological index (MTI), polar surface area (PSA), total connectivity (TC), total valence connectivity (TVC), Wiener index (WI), topological diameter (TD) and Balaban index (BI). However, only MTI, PSA, WI and BI exhibited excellent correlation with the toxicological activity of the insecticides. Also among all the calculated physicochemical parameters [logP, surface area (SA), surface volume (SV), hydration energy (E_Hydr), polarizability (PLZ) and refractivity (RFT)], only SV, E_Hydr, PLZ and RFT were useful in establishing quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR). Application of QSAR indicated that the calculated theoretical LD₅₀ values for the studied insecticides displayed excellent correlation with experimentally derived LD₅₀ values. However, best results were obtained from quantum chemical descriptors under modified neglect of atomic overlap (MNDO). The toxicity profile of the insecticides also correlated strongly with ionization energy, electron affinity, global softness and global harness. Reactive sites of each of the insecticides were established using Fukui function, Huckel charges and HOMO/LUMO diagrams. Six new molecules were proposed and their theoretical activities were estimated. The proposed molecules included 2-methyl-2-(methylthio)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-7-yl methylcarbamate, O-methyl O-2-((methylaminooxy)carbonyl)phenyl phosphoramidothioate, 2-((methylaminooxy)carbonyl)phenyl methylcarbamate, 2-(1-(methylthio)ethyl)phenyl methylcarbamate, N-methyl-O-(2-(methylthiooxy) benzoyl) hydroxyl amine and 4-methyl naphthalen-2-yl methylcarbamate. Some of the proposed molecules exhibited negative values of LD₅₀ (indicating extreme toxicity) while two of them exhibited values that are comparable to existing insecticides.

A DFT and semiempirical model-based study of opioid receptor affinity and selectivity in a group of molecules with a morphine structural core

We report the results of a search for model-based relationships between mu, delta, and kappa opioid receptor binding affinity and molecular structure for a group of molecules having in common a morphine structural core. The wave functions and local reactivity indices were obtained at the ZINDO/1 and B3LYP/6-31G^∗∗ levels of theory for comparison. New developments in the expression for the drug-receptor interaction energy expression allowed several local atomic reactivity indices to be included, such as local electronic chemical potential, local hardness, and local electrophilicity. These indices, together with a new proposal for the ordering of the independent variables, were incorporated in the statistical study. We found and discussed several statistically significant relationships for mu, delta, and kappa opioid receptor binding affinity at both levels of theory. Some of the new local reactivity indices incorporated in the theory appear in several equations for the first time in the history of model-based equations. Interaction pharmacophores were generated for mu, delta, and kappa receptors. We discuss possible differences regulating binding and selectivity in opioid receptor subtypes. This study, contrarily to the statistically backed ones, is able to provide a microscopic insight of the mechanisms involved in the binding process.