The multi-scale polarizable pseudo-particle solvent coarse-grained approach: From NaCl salt solutions to polyelectrolyte hydration.

We discuss key parameters that affect the reliability of hybrid simulations in the aqueous phase based on an efficient multi-scale coarse-grained polarizable pseudo-particle approach, denoted as pppl, to model the solvent water, whereas solutes are modeled using an all atom polarizable force field. Among those parameters, the extension of the solvent domain (SD) at the solute vicinity (domain in which each solvent particle corresponds to a single water molecule) and the magnitude of solute/solvent short range polarization damping effects are shown to be pivotal to model NaCl salty aqueous solutions and the hydration of charged systems, such as the hydrophobic polyelectrolyte polymer that we have recently investigated [Masella et al., J.

Early Steps in the O Scavenger Process in the Aqueous Phase: Hydrazine vs DEHA.

We investigate the first direct proton abstraction reactions from reducing agents () hydrazine and diethyl hydroxylamine (DEHA), toward dioxygen (O) in the aqueous phase, spanning ambient to high-temperature conditions. Quantum chemistry methods and molecular dynamics simulations are employed in this study. Quantum chemistry methods are used to analyze the quasi-equilibrium between a reactive conformation and a transition state in the [,O] cluster.

Chitosan Polysaccharides from a Polarizable Multiscale Approach.

We report simulations of chitosan polysaccharides in the aqueous phase, at infinite dilute conditions and zero ionic strength. Those simulations are performed by means of a polarizable multiscale modeling scheme that relies on a polarizable force field to model solutes and on a polarizable solvent coarse grained approach. Force field parameters are assigned only from quantum chemistry data.

Protein-ligand interactions from a quantum fragmentation perspective: The case of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease interacting with α-ketoamide inhibitors.

We present a hybrid, multi-method, computational scheme for protein/ligand systems well suited to be used on modern and forthcoming massively parallel computing systems. The scheme relies on a multi-scale polarizable molecular modeling, approach to perform molecular dynamics simulations, and on an efficient Density Functional Theory (DFT) linear scaling method to post-process simulation snapshots. We use this scheme to investigate recent α-ketoamide inhibitors targeting the main protease of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Hybrid polarizable simulations of a conventional hydrophobic polyelectrolyte. Toward a theoretical tool for green science innovation.

Hybrid modeling approaches based on all-atom force fields to handle a solute and coarse-grained models to account for the solvent are promising numerical tools that can be used to understand the properties of large and multi-components solutions and thus to speed up the development of new industrial products that obey the standard of green and sustainable chemistry. Here, we discuss the ability of a full polarizable hybrid approach coupled to a standard molecular dynamics scheme to model the behavior in the aqueous phase and at infinite dilution conditions of a standard hydrophobic polyelectrolyte polymer whose charge is neutralized by explicit counterions. Beyond the standard picture of a polyelectrolyte behavior governed by an interplay between opposite intra-polyelectrolyte and inter-polyelectrolyte/counterion Coulombic effects, our simulations show the key role played by both intra-solute polarization effects and long range solute/solvent electrostatics to stabilize compact globular conformations of that polyelectrolyte.

Properties of the tetravalent actinide series in aqueous phase from a microscopic simulation self-consistent engine.

In the context of nuclear fuel recycling and environmental issues, the understanding of the properties of radio-elements with various approaches remains a challenge regarding their dangerousness. Moreover, experimentally, some issues are also of importance; first, it is imperative to work at sufficiently high concentrations to reach the sensitivities of the analytical tools, however this condition often leads to precipitation for some of them; second, stabilizing specific oxidation states of some actinides remains a challenge, thus making it difficult to extract general trends across the actinide series. Complementary to experiments, modeling can be used to unbiasedly probe the actinide's properties in an aquatic environment and offers a predictive tool.

Improving the description of solvent pairwise interactions using local solute/solvent three-body functions. The case of halides and carboxylates in aqueous environment.

We propose a general strategy to remediate force-field artifacts in describing pairwise interactions among similar molecules M in the vicinity of another chemical species, C, like water molecules interacting at short distance from a monoatomic ion. This strategy is based on introducing a three-body potential energy term that alters the pairwise interactions among M-type molecules when they lie at short range from the species C. In other words the species C is the center of a space domain where the pairwise interactions among the molecules M is altered.

Solvation of the Guanidinium Ion in Pure Aqueous Environments: A Theoretical Study from an "Ab Initio"-Based Polarizable Force Field.

We report simulation results regarding the hydration process of the guanidinium cation in water droplets and in bulk liquid water, at a low concentration of 0.03 M, performed using a polarizable approach to model both water/water and ion/water interactions. In line with earlier theoretical studies, our simulations show a preferential orientation of guanidinium at water-vacuum interfaces, i.

Organic ion association in aqueous phase and ab initio-based force fields: The case of carboxylate/ammonium salts.

We performed molecular dynamics simulations of carboxylate/methylated ammonium ion pairs solvated in bulk water and of carboxylate/methylated ammonium salt solutions at ambient conditions using an ab initio-based polarizable force field whose parameters are assigned to reproduce only high end quantum computations, at the Møller-Plesset second-order perturbation theory/complete basis set limit level, regarding single ions and ion pairs as isolated and micro-hydrated in gas phase. Our results agree with the available experimental results regarding carboxylate/ammonium salt solutions. For instance, our force field approach predicts the percentage of acetate associated with ammonium ions in CHCOO/CHNH solutions at the 0.

Complexity Reduction in Large Quantum Systems: Fragment Identification and Population Analysis via a Local Optimized Minimal Basis.

We present, within Kohn-Sham density functional theory calculations, a quantitative method to identify and assess the partitioning of a large quantum-mechanical system into fragments. We then show how within this framework simple generalizations of other well-known population analyses can be used to extract, from first-principles, reliable electrostatic multipoles for the identified fragments. Our approach reduces arbitrariness in the fragmentation procedure and enables the possibility to assess quantitatively whether the corresponding fragment multipoles can be interpreted as observable quantities associated with a system moiety.

Extrapolating Single Organic Ion Solvation Thermochemistry from Simulated Water Nanodroplets.

We compute the ion/water interaction energies of methylated ammonium cations and alkylated carboxylate anions solvated in large nanodroplets of 10 000 water molecules using 10 ns molecular dynamics simulations and an all-atom polarizable force-field approach. Together with our earlier results concerning the solvation of these organic ions in nanodroplets whose molecular sizes range from 50 to 1000, these new data allow us to discuss the reliability of extrapolating absolute single-ion bulk solvation energies from small ion/water droplets using common power-law functions of cluster size. We show that reliable estimates of these energies can be extrapolated from a small data set comprising the results of three droplets whose sizes are between 100 and 1000 using a basic power-law function of droplet size.

Structural, dynamical, and transport properties of the hydrated halides: How do At(-) bulk properties compare with those of the other halides, from F(-) to I(-)?

The properties of halides from the lightest, fluoride (F(-)), to the heaviest, astatide (At(-)), have been studied in water using a polarizable force-field approach based on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations at the 10 ns scale. The selected force-field explicitly treats the cooperativity within the halide-water hydrogen bond networks. The force-field parameters have been adjusted to ab initio data on anion/water clusters computed at the relativistic Möller-Plesset second-order perturbation theory level of theory.

Simulated Solvation of Organic Ions II: Study of Linear Alkylated Carboxylate Ions in Water Nanodrops and in Liquid Water. Propensity for Air/Water Interface and Convergence to Bulk Solvation Properties.

We investigated the solvation of carboxylate ions from formate to hexanoate, in droplets of 50 to 1000 water molecules and neat water, by computations using standard molecular dynamics and sophisticated polarizable models. The carboxylate ions from methanoate to hexanoate show strong propensity for the air/water interface in small droplets. Only the ions larger than propanoate retain propensity for the interface in larger droplets, where their enthalpic stabilization by ion/water dispersion is reduced there by 3 kcal mol(-1) per CH2 group.

The fast multipole method and point dipole moment polarizable force fields.

We present an implementation of the fast multipole method for computing Coulombic electrostatic and polarization forces from polarizable force-fields based on induced point dipole moments. We demonstrate the expected O(N) scaling of that approach by performing single energy point calculations on hexamer protein subunits of the mature HIV-1 capsid. We also show the long time energy conservation in molecular dynamics at the nanosecond scale by performing simulations of a protein complex embedded in a coarse-grained solvent using a standard integrator and a multiple time step integrator.

Simulated solvation of organic ions: protonated methylamines in water nanodroplets. Convergence toward bulk properties and the absolute proton solvation enthalpy.

We applied an alternative, purely theoretical route to estimate thermodynamical properties of organic ions in bulk solution. The method performs a large ensemble of simulations of ions solvated in water nanodroplets of different sizes, using a polarizable molecular dynamics approach. We consider protonated ammonia and methylamines, and K(+) for comparison, solvated in droplets of 50-1000 water molecules.

Revisiting a many-body model for water based on a single polarizable site: from gas phase clusters to liquid and air/liquid water systems.

We present a revised version of the water many-body model TCPE [M. Masella and J.-P.

A multiscale coarse-grained polarizable solvent model for handling long tail bulk electrostatics.

A multiscale coarse-grained approach able to handle efficiently the solvation of microscopic solutes in extended chemical environment is described. That approach is able to compute readily and efficiently very long-range solute/solvent electrostatic microscopic interactions, up to the 1-μm scale, by considering a reduced amount of computational resources. All the required parameters are assigned to reproduce available data concerning the solvation of single ions.

Further insights in the ability of classical nonadditive potentials to model actinide ion-water interactions.

Pursuing our efforts on the development of accurate classical models to simulate radionuclides in complex environments (Réal et al., J. Phys.

Modeling the hydration of mono-atomic anions from the gas phase to the bulk phase: the case of the halide ions F-, Cl-, and Br-.

In this work, we investigate the hydration of the halide ions fluoride, chloride, and bromide using classical molecular dynamics simulations at the 10 ns scale and based on a polarizable force-field approach, which treats explicitly the cooperative bond character of strong hydrogen bond networks. We have carried out a thorough analysis of the ab initio data at the MP2 or CCSD(T) level concerning anion/water clusters in gas phase to adjust the force-field parameters. In particular, we consider the anion static polarizabilities computed in gas phase using large atomic basis sets including additional diffuse functions.

Combining a polarizable force-field and a coarse-grained polarizable solvent model. II. Accounting for hydrophobic effects.

A revised and improved version of our efficient polarizable force-field/coarse grained solvent combined approach (Masella, Borgis, and Cuniasse, J. Comput. Chem.

Quantum chemical and molecular dynamics study of the coordination of Th(IV) in aqueous solvent.

In this work, we investigate the solvation of tetravalent thorium Th(IV) in aqueous solution using classical molecular dynamics simulations at the 10 ns scale and based on polarizable force-field approaches, which treat explicitly the covalent character of the metal-water interaction (and its inherent cooperative character). We have carried out a thorough analysis of the accuracy of the ab initio data that we used to adjust the force-field parameters. In particular, we show that large atomic basis sets combined with wave function-based methods (such as the MP2 level) have to be preferred to density functional theory when investigating Th(IV)/water aggregates in gas phase.

Structural and atoms-in-molecules analysis of hydrogen-bond network around nitroxides in liquid water.

In this study, we investigated the hydrogen-bond network patterns involving the NO moieties of five small nitroxides in liquid water by analyzing nanosecond scale molecular dynamics trajectories. To this end, we implemented two types of hydrogen-bond definitions, based on electronic structure, using Bader's atoms-in-molecules analysis and based on geometric criteria. In each definition framework, the nitroxide/water hydrogen-bond networks appear very variable from a nitroxide to another.

Structure and spectromagnetic properties of the superoxide radical adduct of DMPO in water: elucidation by theoretical investigations.

In the field of spin trapping chemistry, the design of more efficient radical traps can be assisted by the development of theoretical methods able to give a quantitative evaluation of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum features of the spin-adduct radical, even before initiating the experimental work. The superoxide radical adduct of the 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide nitrone (DMPO-OOH) has been reported in a huge number of papers devoted to the study of the oxidative stress. Here, we present for the first time the theoretical study of DMPO-OOH in an explicit water solution, based on the combined QM/MM//MD protocol we recently proposed, featuring a full coupling between the solute and all the explicit water molecules.

Further insights into the environmental effects on the computed hyperfine coupling constants of nitroxides in aqueous solution.

We investigated the main two factors influencing the mean hyperfine coupling constants of small nitroxide radicals in aqueous solution, i.e., the out-of-plane displacement of their nitrogen atom and the environmental effects (solvent effects), by means of the approach we previously developed and fine-tuned to study the solvation of the dimethyl nitroxide radical.