α-methylation and α-fluorination electronic effects on the regioselectivity of carbonyl groups of uracil by H and triel bonds in the interaction of U, T and 5FU with HCl and TrH3 (Tr = B, Al)

In silico Drug Repurposing of Anticancer Drug 5-FU and Analogues Against SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease: Molecular Docking, Molecular Dynamics Simulation, Pharmacokinetics and Chemical Reactivity Studies

Background

Since the last COVID-19 outbreak, several approaches have been given a try to quickly tackle this global calamity. One of the well-established strategies is the drug repurposing, which consists in finding new therapeutic uses for approved drugs. Following the same paradigm, we report in the present study, an investigation of the potential inhibitory activity of 5-FU and nineteen of its analogues against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (3CLpro).

Material and Methods

Molecular docking calculations were performed to investigate the binding affinity of the ligands within the active site of 3CLpro. The best binding candidates were further considered for molecular dynamics simulations for 100 ns to gain a time-resolved understanding of the behavior of the guest-host complexes. Furthermore, the profile of druggability of the best binding ligands was assessed based on ADMET predictions. Finally, their chemical reactivity was elucidated using different reactivity descriptors, namely the molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), Fukui functions and frontier molecular orbitals.

Results and Discussion

From the calculations performed, four candidates (compounds 14, 15, 16 and 18) show promising results with respect to the binding affinity to the target protease, 3CLpro, the therapeutic profile of druggability and safety. These compounds are maintained inside the active site of 3CLpro thanks to a variety of noncovalent interactions, especially hydrogen bonds, involving important amino acids such as GLU166, HIS163, GLY143, ASN142, HIS172, CYS145. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the four ligands are well trapped within the active site of the protein over a time gap of 100 ns, ligand 18 being the most retained.

Conclusion

In line with the findings reported herein, we recommend that further in-vitro and in-vivo investigations are carried out to shed light on the possible mechanism of pharmacological action of the proposed ligands.

Adsorption of a thione derivative on carbon, AlN, and BN nanotubes: a detailed DFT and MD investigation

The performance of nanotubes (NT) of carbon (CC), aluminium-nitrogen (AlN), and boron-nitrogen (BN) as a sensor and nanocarrier for mercaptopurine (MCP) was investigated by means of a theoretical approach. The calculated negative values of adsorption energy showed the interaction and adsorption of MCP. Highest-occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest-unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) distributions were only found on the NT counter portion of the drug-nanotube not on MCP for AlN-NT and BN-NT while HOMO is over MCP and LUMO is over NT for CC-NT. The polarizability of MCP-NTs is greater than that of MCP. Raman wavenumbers of MCP are enhanced in NTs, and hence, NTs can act as a sensor for the detection of MCP. Solvent dependency on adsorption behaviour is also presented in the manuscript, where we found that the AlN nanotube showed exceptionally high free energy of adsorption over other nanotubes in all solvent mediums. Solvation-free energies were also reported. Noncovalent interaction scattered plot also showed significant intermolecular interaction between AlN nanotubes and the mercaptopurine when compared to other nanotubes under study. To find the antiviral activity of MCP and MCP-NTs against antiviral activities, docking and molecular dynamics simulations were performed with 1HMP PDB. Recovery times show that MCP desorption occurs quickly. The MD simulations and docking results show that BN and CC-NTs with MCP show good activity as drug carriers.

Energy and reactivity profile and proton affinity analysis of rimegepant with special reference to its potential activity against SARS-CoV-2 virus proteins using molecular dynamics

Rimegepant is a new medicine developed for the management of chronic headache due to migraine. This manuscript is an attempt to study the various structural, physical, and chemical properties of the molecules. The molecule was optimized using B3LYP functional with 6-311G + (2d,p) basis set. Excited state properties of the compound were studied using CAM-B3LYP functional with same basis sets using IEFPCM model in methanol for the implicit solvent atmosphere. The various electronic descriptors helped to identify the reactivity behavior and stability. The compound is found to possess good nonlinear optical properties in the gas phase. The various intramolecular electronic delocalizations and non-covalent interactions were analyzed and explained. As the compound contain several heterocyclic nitrogen atoms, they have potential proton abstraction features, which was analyzed energetically. The most important result from this study is from the molecular docking analysis which indicates that rimegepant binds irreversibly with three established SARS-CoV-2 proteins with ID 6LU7, 6M03, and 6W63 with docking scores − 9.2988, − 8.3629, and − 9.5421 kcal/mol respectively. Further assessment of docked complexes with molecular dynamics simulations revealed that hydrophobic interactions, water bridges, and π–π interactions play a significant role in stabilizing the ligand within the binding region of respective proteins. MMGBSA-free energies further demonstrated that rimegepant is more stable when complexed with 6LU7 among the selected PDB models. As the pharmacology and pharmacokinetics of this molecule are already established, rimegepant can be considered as an ideal candidate with potential for use in the treatment of COVID patients after clinical studies.

Synthesis, single crystal (XRD), Hirshfeld surface analysis, computational study (DFT) and molecular docking studies of (E)-4-((2-hydroxy-3,5-diiodobenzylidene)amino)-N-(pyrimidine)-2-yl) benzenesulfonamide

The Schiff base (E)-4-((2-hydroxy-3,5-diiodobenzylidene)amino)-N-(pyrimidine)-2-yl) benzene sulfonamide (DIDA) compound was synthesis with condensation of 3,5-diiodosalicylaldehyde and sulfadiazine. The compound characterized with FTIR, X-ray crystallography and electronic spectra. The titled compound associated with experimental and theoretical method, DFT used for the theoretical method. The IR was calculated from DFT mode with B3LYP/GENSEP basic set. The electronic spectra computed from TD-DFT method with CAM-B3LYP functional, with IEFPCM solvation model and DMSO used as the solvent. Wave function based properties like localized orbital locator, electron localization function and non-covalent interactions have been studied extensively. The ADMET properties of the compound DIDA indicated that the compound has excellent drug likeness properties and PASS studies showed that it has anti-infective properties, which is confirmed by a docking score of -7.4 kcal/mol.

Computational investigation, comparative approaches, molecular structural, vibrational spectral, non-covalent interaction (NCI), and electron excitations analysis of benzodiazepine derivatives

The present work explores the structural parameters and vibrational frequencies as well as molecular interactions of benzodiazepine derivatives, such as clothiapine (CT), clozapine (CZ), and loxapine (LX). Employing fitting experimental data to theoretical results is used to assess the structural parameters of heading composites. The main assignment is passed out according to the overall distribution of energy of the vibrational modes. From the hyper-conjugative interaction, the permanency of the structure had been predicted through natural bond orbital analysis; it is also used to identify the bonding and antibonding regions of the molecules. Moreover, electrostatic potential (ESP), density of states (DOS), and charge transfer occurring of the molecule among HOMO as well as LUMO energy were calculated and presented; utilizing electron localized field (ELF), localized orbital locator (LOL), and reduced density gradient (RDG), the chemical interactive regions are found. Additionally, mean polarizability (α_tot), the first-order hyperpolarizability (β_tot), and softness and hardness of the entitled compounds were also performed. The interaction between protein-ligand was also predicted by docking studies.

Influence of halogen atom substitution and neutral HCN/anion CN- Lewis base on the triel-bonding interactions

Triel-bonding interactions composed of Lewis acid TrOHH₂/TrOH₂X/TrOHX₂ (Tr = B, Al, Ga; X = F, Cl, Br) molecule and Lewis base neutral HCN or anionic CN^- molecule are of research significance in bond properties, which has been investigated at MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ theory level. It is also feasible to study the halogen atom substituent effect and influence of different Lewis bases on the formation of triel bond. AIM analyses reveal that Tr (Tr = B, Al, Ga)···N bond critical point (BCP) exists in all studied triel bond. In the formation of triel bonding, compared with Lewis base HCN molecule, Lewis base anionic CN^- can participate in a stronger triel bond. Specifically, the structural change, deformation energy, and charge transfer of CN^- complexes are all larger than that of HCN complexes. In addition, halogen atom substitution effect is also discussed. MEP value and binding energy of HCN and CN^- complexes all increase after replacing one or two hydrogen atoms by halogen atoms (F, Cl, Br) in Lewis acid. Especially, replacing two hydrogen atoms by halogen atoms in Lewis acid has more remarkable enhancement in MEP value and binding energy than that of replacing only one hydrogen atom. After replacement, binding energy can be increased by 21.77 kcal/mol. The neutral and anionic triel-bonded complexes composed by Lewis acid TrOHH₂/TrOH₂X/TrOHX₂ (Tr = B, Al, Ga; X = F, Cl, Br) with Lewis base HCN and CN^- are systematically investigated at MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level. The neutral (HCN) triel bonding is weaker than the anionic (CN^-) triel bonding due to the smaller MEP value of the neutral HCN molecule. The replacement of hydrogens (-H) in Lewis acid by electron-withdrawing groups (-F, -Cl, -Br) has a prominent enhancement effect on the MEP value of π-hole and triel-bonding strength.

Excited-state electronic properties, structural studies, noncovalent interactions, and inhibition of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 proteins in Ripretinib by first-principle simulations

Ripretinib is a recently developed drug for the treatment of adults with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors. This paper reports an attempt to study this molecule by electronic modeling and molecular mechanics to determine its composition and other specific chemical features via the density-functional theory (DFT), thereby affording sufficient information on the electronic properties and descriptors that can enable the estimation of its molecular bioactivity. We explored most of the physico-chemical properties of the molecule, as well as its stabilization, via the studies of the natural bond orbitals and noncovalent interactions. The electronic excitation, which is a time-dependent process, was examined by the time-dependent DFT with a CAM-B3LYP functional. The molecular docking study indicated that Ripretinib strongly docks with three known novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-n-CoV-2) proteins with a reasonably good docking score.

Modelling the structural and reactivity landscapes of tucatinib with special reference to its wavefunction-dependent properties and screening for potential antiviral activity

HER-2 type breast cancer is one of the most aggressive malignancies found in women. Tucatinib is recently developed and approved as a potential medicine to fight this disease. In this manuscript, we present the gross structural features of this compound and its reactivity and wave function properties using computational simulations. Density functional theory was used to optimise the ground state geometry of the molecule and molecular docking was used to predict biological activity. As the electrons interact with electromagnetic radiations, electronic excitations between different energy levels are analysed in detail using time-dependent density functional theory. Various intermolecular and intermolecular interactions are analysed and reaction sites for attacking electrophiles and nucleophiles identified. Information entropy calculations show that the compound is inherently stable. Docking with COVID-19 proteins show docking score of − 9.42, − 8.93, − 8.45 and − 8.32 kcal/mol respectively indicating high interaction between the drug and proteins. Hence, this is an ideal candidate to study repurposing of existing drugs to combat the pandemic.

Structural investigations, quantum mechanical studies on proton and metal affinity and biological activity predictions of selpercatinib

Cancer of the lungs and thyroid is particularly difficult to manage and treat. Notably, selpercatinib has recently been suggested as an effective drug to combat these diseases. The entire world is currently tackling the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-19 virus. Numerous pharmaceuticals have been evaluated for the management of the disease caused by SARS-CoV-19 (i.e., COVID-19). In this study, selpercatinib was proposed as a potential inhibitor of different SARS-CoV-19 proteins. Several intriguing effects of the molecule were found during the conducted computational investigations. Selpercatinib could effectively act as a proton sponge and exhibited high proton affinity in solution. Moreover, it was able to form complexes with metal ions in aqueous solutions. Specifically, the compound displayed high affinity towards zinc ions, which are important for the prevention of virus multiplication inside human cells. However, due to their charge, zinc ions are not able to pass the lipid bilayer and enter the cell. Thus, it was determined that selpercatinib could act as an ionophore, effectively transporting active zinc ions into cells. Furthermore, various quantum mechanical analyses, including energy studies, evaluation of the reactivity parameters, examination of the electron localisation and delocalisation properties, as well as assessment of the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties and information entropy, were conducted herein. The performed docking studies (docking scores -9.3169, -9.1002, -8.1853 and -8.1222 kcal mol^-1) demonstrated that selpercatinib strongly bound with four isolated SARS-CoV-2 proteins.

Competition between Intra and Intermolecular Triel Bonds. Complexes between Naphthalene Derivatives and Neutral or Anionic Lewis Bases

: A TrF2 group (Tr = B, Al, Ga, In, Tl) is placed on one of the α positions of naphthalene, and its ability to engage in a triel bond (TrB) with a weak (NCH) and strong (NC-) nucleophile is assessed by ab initio calculations. As a competitor, an NH2 group is placed on the neighboring Cα, from which point it forms an intramolecular TrB with the TrF2 group. The latter internal TrB reduces the intensity of the π-hole on the Tr atom, decreasing its ability to engage in a second external TrB. The intermolecular TrB is weakened by a factor of about two for the smaller Tr atoms but is less severe for the larger Tl. The external TrB can be quite strong nonetheless; it varies from a minimum of 8 kcal/mol for the weak NCH base, up to as much as 70 kcal/mol for CN-. Likewise, the appearance of an external TrB to a strong base like CN- lessens the ability of the Tr to engage in an internal TrB, to the point where such an intramolecular TrB becomes questionable.