Abstract
Conformational analysis of melatonin ( N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) was performed at ab initio Hartree–Fock level: 128 conformers were obtained using 6-31G* basis set. With the help of equivalence relations, the conformational hypersurface was divided into equivalence classes. It can be concluded that the side chains of melatonin are enantiotopic groups, i.e. melatonin has conformational planar docking chirality, and its conformers are correlated with each other as enantiomer, epimer, or diastereomer pairs. Based on these considerations, it is possible to explain the outcomes of restricted chiral melatonin analog experiments. It is suggested that conformers belonging to different equivalence classes should react with different receptor sites and elements of equivalent classes of 3 re and 5 si face side of the indole ring prefer the MT1, while 3 si face side ones favor the MT2 melatonin receptor site.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
