Introducing KICK-MEP: exploring potential energy surfaces in systems with significant non-covalent interactions

Williams García-Argote, Lina Ruiz, Diego Inostroza, Carlos Cardenas, Osvaldo Yañez, William Tiznado

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Resumen

Context: Exploring potential energy surfaces (PES) is fundamental in computational chemistry, as it provides insights into the relationship between molecular energy, geometry, and chemical reactivity. We introduce Kick-MEP, a hybrid method for exploring the PES of atomic and molecular clusters, particularly those dominated by non-covalent interactions. Kick-MEP computes the Coulomb integral between the maximum and minimum electrostatic potential values on a 0.001 a.u. electron density isosurface for two interacting fragments. This approach efficiently estimates interaction energies and selects low-energy configurations at reduced computational cost. Kick-MEP was evaluated on silicon-lithium clusters, water clusters, and thymol encapsulated within Cucurbit[7]uril, consistently identifying the lowest energy structures, including global minima and relevant local minima. Methods: Kick-MEP generates an initial population of molecular structures using the stochastic Kick algorithm, which combines two molecular fragments (A and B). The molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) values on a 0.001 a.u. electron density isosurface for each fragment are used to compute the Coulomb integral between them. Structures with the lowest Coulomb integral are selected and refined through gradient-based optimization and DFT calculations at the PBE0-D3/Def2-TZVP level. Molecular docking simulations for the thymol-Cucurbit[7]uril complex using AutoDock Vina were performed for benchmarking. Kick-MEP was validated across different molecular systems, demonstrating its effectiveness in identifying the lowest energy structures, including global minima and relevant local minima, while maintaining a low computational cost.

Idioma originalInglés
Número de artículo369
PublicaciónJournal of Molecular Modeling
Volumen30
N.º11
DOI
EstadoPublicada - nov. 2024

Áreas temáticas de ASJC Scopus

  • Catálisis
  • Informática aplicada
  • Química física y teórica
  • Química orgánica
  • Química inorgánica
  • Teoría computacional y matemáticas

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