Molecular structure of basic oligomeric building units of heparan-sulfate glycosaminoglycans

This study reports in detail the results of systematic large-scale theoretical investigations of the acidic dimeric structural units (D-E, E-F, F-G, and G-H) and pentamer D-E-F-G-H (fondaparinux) of the glycosaminoglycan heparin, and their anionic forms. The geometries and energies of these oligomers have been computed using HF/6-31G(d), Becke3LYP/6-31G(d), and Becke3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) methods. The optimized geometries indicate that the most stable structure of these units in the neutral state is stabilized via a system of intramolecular hydrogen bonds. The equilibrium structure of these species changed appreciably upon dissociation. Water has a remarkable effect on the geometry of the anions studied. Because of high negative charge, the solvent effect also resulted in an appreciable energetic stabilization of biologically active anionic forms of these glycosaminoglycans. The stable energy conformations around glycosidic bonds found for dimers and pentamer investigated are compared and discussed with the available experimental X-ray structural data for the structurally related heparin-derived pentasaccharides in cocrystals with proteins

Explicit solvent DRF INDOs/CIS computations of charge transfer state energetics in a pyrenyldeoxyuridine nucleoside model

In this work we present calculated absorption and emission spectra in acetonitrile (MeCN) solution of N-acetyl-1-aminopyrene (PAAc, a spectroscopic model compound) and N-(1-pyrenyl)-1-methyluracil-5-carboxamide (PAU(Me), a computational model for 5-(N-carboxyl-1-aminopyrenyl)-2'-deoxyuridine (PAdU)). The computational method used-the discrete reaction field approach (DRF)-combines a quantum mechanical (QM) description of the solute (here DFT and INDOs/CIS, i.e., the INDO parametrization for spectroscopy) with a classical, molecular mechanics (MM) description of the solvent molecules. The latter are modeled with point charges representing the permanent charge distribution and polarizabilities to account for many-body interactions among the solute and other solvent molecules. Molecular dynamics is used to sample the degrees of freedom of the solution around several solute conformations each in two electronic excited states. This leads to a large number of solute/solvent configurations from which 800 are selected for each excited state and collected into a single ensemble by means of proper Boltzmann averaging. DRF INDOs/CIS applied to the selected solute/solvent configurations give simulated absorption and emission band spectra-each based on 15200 calculated transitions-that compare well with experimental results. For example, the much broader absorption and emission bands in PAdU compared with PAAc are reproduced, and the simulated emission spectra of PAU(Me) agree well with broad (380-550 nm) charge transfer (CT) emission seen for PAdU in MeCN. The observed multiexponential fluorescence decay profiles for PAdU in different polar solvents are interpreted in terms of solute/solvent conformational heterogeneity here generated in the MD simulations for PAUMe in MeCN. Additionally, the simulations demonstrate the mixing of the forbidden Py center dot+/dU(center dot-) CT states with allowed pyrenyl (1)(pi,pi*) states

Refractive index and third-order nonlinear susceptibility of C-60 in the condensed phase calculated with the discrete solvent reaction field model

We have calculated the frequency-dependent refractive index and the third-order nonlinear susceptibility for C-60 in the condensed phase, which is related to third-harmonic generation (THG) and degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) experiments. This was done using the recently developed discrete solvent reaction field (DRF) model, which combines a time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) description of the central C-60 molecule with a classical polarizable MM model for the rest of the fullerene cluster. Using this model, effective microscopic properties can be calculated that, combined with calculated local field factors, give macroscopic susceptibilities. The largest calculation was for a cluster of 63 C,, molecules in which the central molecule was treated with TD-DFT. For this molecule, the effective polarizability was increased with about 15% and the effective second hyperpolarizability with about 60% compared with the gas phase. The calculated refractive index was found to be in good agreement with experiments and other theoretical results. The agreement with THG experiments was within a factor of two, whereas for DFWM the agreement was less good due to the neglect of vibrational contributions in the calculations. It was found that it is more important to account for the dispersion in the third-order susceptibilities than in the corresponding second hyperpolarizability. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Electronic structure of thienylene vinylene oligomers:Singlet excited states, triplet excited states, cations, and dications

This paper describes a quantum chemical study of the electronic structure of thienylene vinylene oligomers ranging in size from two thienylene rings (2TV) to 12TV. The geometries of the TV oligomers in the ground state, the lowest triplet state, and the singly and doubly oxidized states were optimized using density functional theory calculations. The electronic absorption spectra were obtained from configuration interaction calculations with an INDO/s reference wave function. Comparison with experimental data shows that the agreement is satisfactory, except for the triplet-triplet absorption spectra. For closed shell systems (ground state and doubly occupied state), the spectra were also calculated by time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). TDDFT considerably underestimates the neutral singlet-singlet excitation energies for longer chains. The nature of the excited states for the TV radical cations was found to be more similar to that of thiophenes than to that of phenylene vinylenes, indicating that the sulfur atom has a marked influence on the pi-electron system. For the (singlet) absorption spectra of doubly oxidized TVs, the results from TDDFT calculations are surprisingly Good; they are also good for long chains. TDDFT calculations for doubly charged TVs also confirm the existence of a second, weak absorption band as has been found experimentally

QM/MM study of the role of the solvent in the formation of the charge separated excited state in 9,9'-bianthryl

In this paper the role of the solvent in the formation of the charge-separated excited state of 9,9'-bianthryl (BA) is examined by means of mixed molecular mechanical/quantum mechanical (QM/MM) calculations. It is shown that in weakly polar solvents a relaxed excited state is formed with an interunit angle that is significantly smaller than 90 degrees. This relaxed excited state has a considerable dipole moment even in weakly polar solvents; for benzene and dioxane dipole moments of ca. 6 D were calculated, which is close to experimental data. These dipoles are induced by the solvent in the highly polarizable relaxed excited state of BA, and the dipole relaxation time is governed by solvent reorganizations. In polar solvent the charge separation is driven to completion by the stronger dipoles in the solvent and a fully charged separated excited state is formed with an interunit angle of 90 degrees