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Acidity Constant (p K a ) Calculation of Large Solvated Dye Molecules: Evaluation of Two Advanced Molecular Dynamics Methods
Author(s) -
De Meyer Thierry,
Ensing Bernd,
Rogge Sven M. J.,
De Clerck Karen,
Meijer Evert Jan,
Van Speybroeck Veronique
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201600734
Subject(s) - bromothymol blue , molecule , polymer , chemistry , molecular dynamics , covalent bond , computational chemistry , work (physics) , aqueous solution , chemical physics , thermodynamics , organic chemistry , physics
Abstract pH‐Sensitive dyes are increasingly applied on polymer substrates for the creation of novel sensor materials. Recently, these dye molecules were modified to form a covalent bond with the polymer host. This had a large influence on the pH‐sensitive properties, in particular on the acidity constant (p K a ). Obtaining molecular control over the factors that influence the p K a value is mandatory for the future intelligent design of sensor materials. Herein, we show that advanced molecular dynamics (MD) methods have reached the level at which the p K a values of large solvated dye molecules can be predicted with high accuracy. Two MD methods were used in this work: steered or restrained MD and the insertion/deletion scheme. Both were first calibrated on a set of phenol derivatives and afterwards applied to the dye molecule bromothymol blue. Excellent agreement with experimental values was obtained, which opens perspectives for using these methods for designing dye molecules.