Density Functional Theory Study of the Hydrogen-Bonding Interaction of 1:1 Complexes of Alanine with Water

Profound importance of the conventional O-H⋯O hydrogen bond versus a considerable blue shift of the Csp2-H bond in complexes of substituted carbonyls and carboxyls

Using quantum chemical approaches, we investigated the conventional O-H⋯O and nonconventional Csp2-H⋯O hydrogen bonds between carboxylic acids and aldehydes in 21 stable complexes. The strength of complexes is determined by the conventional O-H⋯O bond together with the nonconventional Csp2-H⋯O hydrogen bond, in which the former one is 4-5 times as strong as the latter one. Proportional linear correlations of the interaction energy with both individual energies of the O-H⋯O and Csp2-H⋯O hydrogen bonds are proposed. Different impacts of electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups in substituted formaldehyde and formic acid on characteristics of conventional and nonconventional hydrogen bonds, as well as the strength of both hydrogen bond types and complexes, are also evaluated. Following complexation, it is noteworthy that the largest blue shift of the Csp2-H stretching frequency in the Csp2-H⋯O bond up to 105.3 cm-1 in CH3CHO⋯FCOOH is due to a decisive role of the O-H⋯O hydrogen bond, which has been rarely reported in the literature. The obtained results show that the conventional O-H⋯O hydrogen bond plays a pivotal role in the significant blue shift of the Csp2-H stretching frequency in the nonconventional Csp2-H⋯O hydrogen bond. Remarkably, the considerable blue shift of the Csp2-H stretching frequency is found to be one H of C-H in formic acid substituted by the electron-withdrawing group and one H in formaldehyde substituted by the electron-donating group. In addition, the change in the Csp2-H stretching frequency following complexation is proportional to both changes of electron density in σ*(Csp2-H) and σ*(O-H) orbitals, in which a dominant role of σ*(O-H) versus σ*(Csp2-H) is observed.

Computational study of the dimerization of glyphosate: mechanism and effect of solvent

A computational study on the structure and stability of different series of glyphosate (Glyph) dimers comprising nonionized (N) and zwitterionic structures (Z) for neutral monomers, followed by an analysis of energetics of Glyph dimerization process have been performed by means of quantum chemical calculations in different media. Optimized geometries for energy minima, as well as relative potential and free energies of the possible various conformers of each series of Glyph dimer were computed as a function of the medium at B3LYP-D3/6-311++G(2d,2p) level. The solvation model based on density (SMD) is employed for all solution phase computations. Non-ionized dimers (DN), anion-cation (AC) and either zwitterion-zwitterion (DZP and DZC) or non-ionized-phosphonate zwitterion (NZP) ionized neutral forms of Glyph dimer are predicted to exist in the gas phase and in solution in large contrast to Glyph monomers. The DZC dimer form exhibiting a centrosymmetric arrangement of two carboxylate zwitterion units was found to be the most stable dimer structure in all media. In aqueous solution, the DZP and AC dimer type structures are significantly stabilized by hydration. The tautomerisms between DZC, DZP and AC dimer type structures have been investigated in the gas phase and in solution. The DZC type structures are more prone to experience proton transfer in water than in the gas phase and in cyclohexane. The mechanism for the tautomerization process in neutral ionized Glyph dimers proceeds via two direct proton transfer paths: DZP ⇋ AC ⇋ DZC. Results show that solvents play a key role in modulating the energetics of the dimerization process of Glyph. Solvation in cyclohexane, favors the dimerization process however, hydration opposed it. In aqueous solution, the mechanism of the dimerization of Glyph from its phosphonate zwitterionic monomer form (ZP) could be described by a set of equilibria including direct proton transfer paths as follows: 2ZP ⇋ DZP ⇋ AC ⇋ DZC. According to our results, in aqueous solution, DZC Glyph dimers and their corresponding DZP and AC tautomers should be present in higher concentration than phosphonate zwitterionic Glyph monomers for high Glyph concentration, a fact that seems controversial in the literature.

Different proton transfer channels for the transformation of zwitterionic alanine-(H₂O)(n=2-4) to nonzwitterionic alanine-(H₂O)(n=2-4): a density functional theory study

We report here the various possibilities of proton transfer between the zwitterionic and the non-zwetterionic form of alanine (Ala) via (H₂O)(n=2-4) clusters by calculating the transition state structures of zwitterionic alanine (ZAla)-(H₂O)(n=2-4) and non-zwitterionic alanine (Ala)-(H₂O)(n=2-4) complexes at B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) and CAM-B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. In order to determine the most feasible channel for proton transfer, the barrier energy corresponding to each channel was calculated. For the transformation of ZAla-(H₂O)(n=2) to Ala-(H₂O)(n=2), we identified eight channels for proton transfer. The lowest barrier energy (2.57 kcal mol⁻¹) channel, where ZAla-(H₂O)(n=2) transforms to Ala-(H₂O)(n=2) via triple proton transfer, is said to be the energetically most feasible channel. The values of barrier energy corresponding to the least energy pathway for proton transfer were calculated to be 1.14 and 9.82 kcal mol⁻¹ for n = 3 and n = 4 complexes, respectively, at B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. For complex n = 3, the structure where proton transfer takes place directly from -NH₃⁺ to -COO⁻ has the lowest energy pathway. However, the complexes for n = 2 and 3--the channels where proton transferred from -NH₃⁺ to -COO⁻ via two water molecules have the lowest barrier energy. For each n, the values of barrier energy calculated at CAM-B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory were always less compared those calculated at B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. The value of rate constants corresponding to each proton transfer channel was also calculated.

Effect of solvent upon CH...O hydrogen bonds with implications for protein folding

The series of CH...O bonds formed between CF(n)H(4-n) (n = 0-3) and water are studied by quantum calculations under vacuum and in various solvents, including aqueous environment. The results are compared with the OH...O bond of the water dimer in the same solvents. Increasing polarity of the solvent leads in all cases to a lessening of the H-bond interaction energy, in a uniform fashion such that the CH...O bonds all remain weaker than OH...O in any solvent. These H-bond weakenings are coupled to a shortening of the inter-subunit separation. The contraction of the covalent CH bond to the bridging proton is reduced as the solvent becomes more polar, and the blue shift of its stretching vibration is likewise diminished. A process is considered that simulates protein folding by starting from a pair of noninteracting subunits in aqueous solvent and then goes to a H-bonded pair within the confines of a protein environment. This process is found to be energetically more favorable for some of the CH...O H-bonds than for the nominally stronger conventional OH...O H-bond. This finding suggests that CH...O bonds can make important energetic contributions to protein folding, on par with those made by traditional H-bonds.