Conformation and electronic structure of Carbidopa. A QM/MD study

Abstract

Carbidopa (CD) is a drug used in combination with L-dopa (LD) in treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD). CD is an inhibitor for enzyme decarboxylase, yet its mode of action is not entirely known although it is believed to involve enzyme shape recognition. The present work attempts to investigate the conformational preferences of CD. Tight geometry optimization at the density functional theory (DFT)/B3LYP/6-311[Formula: see text]G** level of theory has been carried out. The shallow nature of the potential energy surface (PES) and the presence of several local minima within a small energy range necessitate the launching of DFT-based molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Two MD experiments were submitted for 35,000 points each. The complete trajectory in time domain of 10.5 ps is analyzed and discussed. The global minimum energy structure of CD is localized and identified by subsequent frequency calculations. The quantum theory of atom in molecules (QTAIMs) is used to extract and compare the quantum chemical topology features of the electron density distribution in CD and LD. Bonding characteristics are analyzed and discussed within the natural bond orbital (NBO) framework.