Hydroxylated derivatives of NPC1161: theoretical insights into their potential toxicity and the feasibility and regioselectivity of their formation

On the structural landscape in endohedral silicon and germanium clusters, M@Si12 and M@Ge12

Amongst the endohedral clusters of the tetrel elements, M@En, the 12-vertex species are unique in that three completely different geometries, the icosahedron (Ih, [Ni@Pb12](2-)), the hexagonal prism (HP, Cr@Si12) and the bicapped pentagonal prism (BPP, [Ru@Ge12](3-)) have been identified in stable molecules. We explore here the origins of this structural diversity by comparing stability patterns across isovalent and isoelectronic series, M@Si12, M@Ge12 and [M@Ge12](3-). The BPP structure dominates the structural landscape for high valence electron counts (57-60) while the HP has a rather narrower window of stability around the 54-56 count. Moreover the preference for an HP structure is unique to silicon: in no case is a rigorously D6h-symmetric structure the global minimum for M@Ge12. Distortions from the high-symmetry limits, where present, can be traced to degeneracies or near-degeneracies in the frontier orbital domains. In all cases the structure adopted is that which maximizes the delocalization of electron density between the metal and the cluster cage, such that both components attain stable electronic configurations.

Computational Study on the Effect of Exocyclic Substituents on the Ionization Potential of Primaquine: Insights into the Design of Primaquine-Based Antimalarial Drugs with Less Methemoglobin Generation

The effect of an exocyclic substituent on the ionization potential of primaquine, an important antimalarial drug, was investigated using density functional theory methods. It was found that an electron-donating group (EDG) makes the ionization potential decrease. In contrast, an electron-withdrawing group (EWG) makes the ionization potential increase. Among all the exocyclic positions, a substituent at the 5- or 7-position has the largest effect. This can be explained by the contribution of the atomic orbitals at those positions to the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO). In addition, a substituent at the N8-position has a considerably large effect on the ionization potential because this atom makes the second largest contribution to the HOMO. These findings have potential implications for the design of less hemotoxic antimalarial drugs. We suggest that it is worth considering placement of an EWG at the 5-, 7-, or N8-positions of primaquine in future drug discovery attempts.