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Comprehensive Characterization of the Self‐Folding Cavitand Dynamics
Author(s) -
LópezColl Ricard,
ÁlvarezYebra Rubén,
Feixas Ferran,
Lledó Agustí
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.202100563
Subject(s) - cavitand , folding (dsp implementation) , molecular dynamics , chemistry , umbrella sampling , rational design , energy landscape , hydrogen bond , chemical physics , computational chemistry , crystallography , supramolecular chemistry , molecule , nanotechnology , materials science , crystal structure , organic chemistry , biochemistry , electrical engineering , engineering
The conformational equilibria and guest exchange process of a resorcin[4]arene derived self‐folding cavitand receptor have been characterized in detail by molecular dynamics simulations (MD) and 1 H EXSY NMR experiments. A multi‐timescale strategy for exploring the fluxional behaviour of this system has been constructed, exploiting conventional MD and accelerated MD (aMD) techniques. The use of aMD allows the reconstruction of the folding/unfolding process of the receptor by sampling high‐energy barrier processes unattainable by conventional MD simulations. We obtained MD trajectories sampling events occurring at different timescales from ns to s: 1) rearrangement of the directional hydrogen bond seam stabilizing the receptor, 2) folding/unfolding of the structure transiting partially open intermediates, and 3) guest departure from different folding stages. Most remarkably, reweighing of the biased aMD simulations provided kinetic barriers that are in very good agreement with those determined experimentally by 1 H NMR. These results constitute the first comprehensive characterization of the complex dynamic features of cavitand receptors. Our approach emerges as a valuable rational design tool for synthetic host‐guest systems