Influence of stereoelectronic effects on the non-opioid analgesics gaboxadol and gaboxadol hydrochloride: Spectral and DFT study

Abstract

The stereoelectronic properties of the molecular structure of most stable conformers of gaboxadol and gaboxadol hydrochloride have been studied using DFT/B3P86-LANL2DZ methodology. The energies of stable conformers of gaboxadol and gaboxadol hydrochloride are −494.2689 and −510.0117 hartrees, respectively. The stability of the molecules arising from stereoelectronic interactions, leading to its bioactivity, has been confirmed using natural bond orbital analysis. The natural bond orbital analysis of donor-acceptor (σ→σ* and n→σ*) interactions showed that the stereoelectronic hyperconjugative and anomeric interactions are exhibited in gaboxadol hydrochloride and gaboxadol, respectively. Lengthening of the axial and equatorial C-H bond lengths and natural population analysis support these results. Spectral features of gaboxadol hydrochloride have been explored by the Fourier transform infrared, Raman and Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic techniques combined with density functional theory computations. NH+ … Cl− hydrogen bonding has been noticeable as a broad and strong absorption in the 2800-2400 cm−1 region. Broad peaks obtained by proton NMR are a result of the quadrupole effect of the N+ atom. Docking studies using representative GABA receptor crystal structures revealed that molecules containing azinane and isoxazole cores fit within the ligand binding domains, and the gaboxadol hydrochloride molecule shows the best binding energy with the 3D32 GABA receptor. Also, gaboxadol hydrochloride has obtained a high value of HOMO energy and a narrow HOMO- LUMO energy gap, which enhances reactivity.