Assessing the accuracy of a QM/MM//MD combined protocol to compute spectromagnetic properties of polyfunctional nitroxides in solution

Abstract

In the field of spin trapping chemistry, we proposed a promising new theoretical QM/MM//MD combined protocol to assist the development of new nitrone-based spin traps (Houriez et al. in J Phys Chem B 114:11793–11803, 2010). In the present study, we test its accuracy and its transferability by investigating the spectromagnetic properties in water of DMPO–OH, the nitroxide spin adduct of the 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide nitrone (DMPO) with the OH· radical. Thanks to our theoretical method, we obtain quantitative estimates of the DMPO–OH hyperfine coupling constants (hcc’s) in very good agreement with experiment. Moreover, our study reveals that the DMPO–OH hcc values are related to the main features of an equilibrium between two major conformations of the nitroxide five-membered ring. Together with our earlier results, the present study clearly establishes the reliability of our theoretical protocol to investigate in condensed phase the behavior of flexible and large nitroxides. Particularly, note that with our method, it is possible to point out clearly fundamental differences in spectromagnetic properties even for two molecules very similar in geometrical structure.