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Effect of stepwise microhydration on the guanidinium···π interaction

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Abstract

The characteristics of the interaction of microhydrated guanidinium cation with the aromatic moieties present in the aromatic amino acids side chains have been studied by means of computational methods. The most stable minima found for non-hydrated complexes correspond in all cases to structures with guanidinium oriented toward the ring and interacting by means of N-H···π hydrogen bonds. The interaction becomes stronger when going from benzene (−14 kcal mol−1) to phenol (−17 kcal mol−1) to indole (−21 kcal mol−1). These complexes are held together mainly by electrostatics, but with important contributions from induction and dispersion. The presence of a small number of water molecules significantly affects the characteristics of the complexes. Hydrogen bonds formed by water with the cation, another water molecule, or the aromatic units become more and more similar in intensity as water molecules are included in the complex, leading to a great variety of minima with similar stability but showing very different structural patterns. The behavior is similar with the three aromatic units, the differences in stability mainly being a consequence of the different strength of the cation···π contact.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the financial support from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2007–2013 (Grant No. CTQ2009-12524). We are also thankful to the Centro de Supercomputación de Galicia (CESGA) for the use of their computers. A. A. R.-S. also thanks Spanish Ministerio Ciencia e Innovación for a Formación de Personal Investigador (FPI) grant.

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  1. Departamento de Química Física, Facultade de Ciencias, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Campus de Lugo. Avda. Alfonso X El Sabio s/n, 27002, Lugo, Spain

    Ana A. Rodríguez-Sanz & Enrique M. Cabaleiro-Lago

  2. Centro de Investigación en Química Biolóxica e Materiais Moleculares, CIQUS, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rúa Jenaro de la Fuente s/n, Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Spain

    Jesús Rodríguez-Otero

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  1. Ana A. Rodríguez-Sanz
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Correspondence to Enrique M. Cabaleiro-Lago.

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Rodríguez-Sanz, A.A., Cabaleiro-Lago, E.M. & Rodríguez-Otero, J. Effect of stepwise microhydration on the guanidinium···π interaction. J Mol Model 20, 2209 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00894-014-2209-5

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