Theoretical alternatives to linear solvation energy relationships

Classification of organic solvents revisited by using the COSMO-RS approach

A new approach for the classification of solvents is proposed, based solely on the solvent molecular structure and relying on the "COnductor-like Screening MOdel for Real Solvents" (COSMO-RS), in which solvents are considered in their liquid state. This approach provides an a priori classification without requiring the knowledge of any experimental data. The theoretical descriptors of the proposed classification are generated through the analysis of the COSMO-RS σ-potential profiles. By applying a two-step statistical procedure to the descriptors generated for a set of 153 representative solvents, a clustering into 10 classes leads to an optimal classification that is compared to the classical Chastrette's classification. The investigation of nitrocellulose solubility allows a validation of the proposed classification, which can be extended also to solvent mixtures. This new approach for solvent classification, thus, appears as a consistent tool for the design of new solvents and their formulation.

QSPR/QSAR models for prediction of the physico-chemical properties and biological activity of polychlorinated diphenyl ethers (PCDEs)

Polychlorinated diphenyl ethers (PCDEs) are a group of important persistent organic pollutants. In the present study, geometrical optimization and electrostatic potential calculations have been performed for all 209 PCDE congeners at the HF/6-31G(*) level of theory. A number of statistically-based parameters have been obtained. Linear relationships between gas-chromatographic relative retention time (RRT), n-octanol/water partition coefficient (log K(OW)), 298 K supercooled liquid vapour pressures (log p(L)), aqueous solubilities (logS(w,L)) and the immunotoxicity values (log ED(50)) of PCDEs and the structural descriptors have been established by multiple linear regression method. The result shows that the quantities derived from electrostatic potential V(s,min), SigmaV(s)(+),V(s,av)(-),Pi,sigma(tot)(2),sigma(+)(2),nu, and N(v)(+), together with the number of the chlorine atoms on the two phenyl rings (N(Cl)) can be well used to express the quantitative structure-property (activity) relationships of PCDEs. Good predictive capabilities have also been demonstrated by leave-group(1/5)-out cross-validation and external test set. Based on these equations, the predicted values have been presented for those PCDE congeners whose experimentally determined physico-chemical properties are unavailable.

Comparison of an Empirical and a Theoretical Linear Solvation Energy Relationship Applied to the Characterization of Solute Distribution in a Poly(ethylene) Glycol-Salt Aqueous Biphasic System

A Linear Solvation Energy Relationship (LSER) developed by Abraham has been applied to the partition of organic solutes in an Aqueous Biphasic System (ABS) and to published values of their 1-octanol/water partition coefficients. The results are compared to the application of a conceptually similar Theoretical Linear Solvation Energy Relationship (TLSER) developed by Famini and co-workers. Differences and similarities in the molecular properties highlighted by each LSER are discussed. The theoretical relationship of Famini, although modeled on the approach of Abraham, seems not to encapsulate molecular properties in the same way as the Abraham's empirical relationship. However, this theoretical approach has the great merit of computational simplicity, and it is concluded that efforts directed toward its improvement could be rewarding.

Transferable atom equivalent multicentered multipole expansion method

The transferability of atomic and functional group properties is an implicit concept in chemistry. The work presented here describes the use of Transferable Atom Equivalents (TAE) to represent molecular electrostatic potential fields through the use of integrated atomic multipole moments that are associated with each TAE atom type used in the reconstruction. TAE molecular surface distributions of electrostatic potentials are compared with analytical ab initio and empirical (Gasteiger) partial charge reference models for several conformations of test peptides. Surface electrostatic potential distributions computed using TAE multipole representations were found to converge at the octopole level, with incremental improvement observed when hexadecapoles were included. Molecular electrostatic potential fields that were produced using the TAE method were observed to be responsive to conformational changes and to compare well with ab initio reference distributions. Generation of TAE atom types and their associated multipoles does not involve fitting to sample electrostatic potential fields, but rather utilizes integrated AIM atomic electron density distributions within representative chemical environments. The RECON program was used for TAE reconstruction. RECON is capable of processing 5,000 drug-sized molecules or 25 proteins per minute per 1.7 GHz P4 Linux processor.

Using the theoretical linear energy solvation energy relationship to correlate and predict nasal pungency thresholds

The theoretical linear solvation energy relationship (TLSER) has been used to correlate and characterize 44 nasal pungency threshold (NPT) values in man with parameters derived from semi-empirical molecular orbital theory. The resulting relationship provides good correlative (R2 > 0.92) and predictive (R2cy > 0.88) capability. In addition, the TLSER parameters are used as a molecular probe to attempt to understand the fundamental properties influencing nasal pungency.