Influence of cut-off truncation and artificial periodicity of electrostatic interactions in molecular simulations of solvated ions: A continuum electrostatics study

A new algorithm relying on finite integration is presented that solves the equations of continuum electrostatics for truncated (and possibly reaction-field corrected) solute–solvent and solvent–solvent interactions under either nonperiodic or periodic boundary conditions. After testing and validation by comparison with existing methods, the algorithm is applied to investigate the effect of cut-off truncation and artificial periodicity in explicit-solvent simulations of ionic solvation and ion–ion interactions. Both cut-off truncation and artificial periodicity significantly alter the polarization around a spherical ion and thus, its solvation free energy. The nature and magnitude of the two perturbations are analyzed in details, and correction terms are proposed for both effects. Cut-off truncation is also shown to induce strong alterations in the potential of mean force for ion–ion interaction. These observations help to rationalize artifacts previously observed in explicit–solvent simulations, namely spurious features in the radial distribution functions close to the cut-off distance and alterations in the relative stabilities of contact, solvent-separated and free ion pairs.