Accurate prediction of structure and stability of molecular crystals is crucial in materials science and requires reliable modeling of long-range dispersion interactions. Semiempirical electronic structure methods are computationally more efficient than their ab initio counterparts, allowing structure sampling with significant speedups. We combine the Tkatchenko-Scheffler van der Waals method (TS) and the many-body dispersion method (MBD) with third-order density functional tight-binding (DFTB3) via a charge population-based method. We find an overall good performance for the X23 benchmark database of molecular crystals, despite an underestimation of crystal volume that can be traced to the DFTB parametrization. We achieve accurate lattice energy predictions with DFT+MBD energetics on top of vdW-inclusive DFTB3 structures, resulting in a speedup of up to 3000 times compared with a full DFT treatment. This suggests that vdW-inclusive DFTB3 can serve as a viable structural prescreening tool in crystal structure prediction.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b03234 | DOI Listing |
Structure
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. Electronic address:
Thio/selenoimidazole Nπ-methyltransferases are an emerging family of enzymes catalyzing the final step in the production of the S/Se-containing histidine-derived antioxidants ovothiol and ovoselenol. These enzymes, prevalent in prokaryotes, show minimal sequence similarity to other methyltransferases, and the structural determinants of their reactivities remain poorly understood. Herein, we report ligand-bound crystal structures of OvsM from the ovoselenol pathway as well as a member of a previously unknown clade of standalone ovothiol-biosynthetic Nπ-methyltransferases, which we have designated OvoM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Mol Model
January 2025
Processes, Materials and Environment Laboratory (LPME), Faculty of Sciences and Technology of Fez, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, B.P. 2202, Fez, Morocco.
Context: Natural fluorapatite (FAP) has been investigated as an adsorbent for the removal of dyes such as methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet (CV) from aqueous solutions. Effective dye removal is crucial for water treatment, particularly for industrial wastewater containing toxic dyes. FAP, a naturally abundant material, was characterized using XRD, FTIR, and SEM analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemistry
January 2025
Shibaura Institute of Technology: Shibaura Kogyo Daigaku, Applied Chemistry, Fukasaku 307, Minuma-ku, 337-8570, Saitama, JAPAN.
A new Donor-Acceptor type pyrazinacene derivative (1) featuring strong ICT was synthesized by linking electron-donating triphenylamine (TPA) and electron-accepting CN groups via a pyrazinacene core. The compound exhibits a dramatic color change from greenish blue to red-violet upon selective recognition of naphthalene (3) to form a 1:1 co-crystal (1•3). This color change is induced by intermolecular CT between pyrazinacene and naphthalene's aromatic moieties, driven by π-hole···π interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFViruses
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA.
Enterovirus-D68 (EV68) continues to present as a global health issue causing respiratory illness and outbreaks associated with long-lasting neurological disease, with no antivirals or specific treatment options. The development of antiviral therapeutics, such as small-molecule inhibitors that target conserved proteins like the enteroviral 3C protease, remains to be achieved. While various 3C inhibitors have been investigated, their design does not consider the potential emergence of drug resistance mutations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolymers (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Physics, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163, USA.
This work aims to determine the mechanism of the photomechanical response of poly(Methyl methacrylate) polymer doped with the photo-isomerizable dye Disperse Red 1 using the non-isomerizable dye Disperse Orange 11 as a control to isolate photoisomerization. Samples are free-standing thin films with thickness that is small compared with the optical skin depth to assure uniform illumination and photomechanical response throughout their volume, which differentiates these studies from most others. Polarization-dependent measurements of the photomechanical stress response are used to deconvolute the contributions of angular hole burning, molecular reorientation and photothermal heating.
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