The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Crystal packing predictions of the alpha-amino acids: methods assessment and structural observations

Crystal packing predictions of the alpha-amino acids: methods assessment and structural observations
Crystal packing predictions of the alpha-amino acids: methods assessment and structural observations
Crystal structure prediction calculations are performed for four hydrophobic amino acids (alanine, valine, leucine and isoleucine), to test the computational methods that have been developed for flexible organic molecules. Specific focus is placed on the final energy minimisation and optimisation of the molecular conformations in the computer-generated crystal structures. Overall, the results are very encouraging. The observed crystal structures are usually found as the lowest energy predicted structures, demonstrating that crystal packing is predictable by computational methods, even for fairly challenging systems. In addition to the assessment of the computational methods, comparison of the hypothetical with the observed crystal structures provides insight into the balance between hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic side-chain packing that determines the crystal structures of these biologically important molecules.



1466-8033
2443-2453
Day, Graeme M.
e3be79ba-ad12-4461-b735-74d5c4355636
Cooper, Timothy G.
c0804dd3-e795-40c2-a1f8-afce188715b5
Day, Graeme M.
e3be79ba-ad12-4461-b735-74d5c4355636
Cooper, Timothy G.
c0804dd3-e795-40c2-a1f8-afce188715b5

Day, Graeme M. and Cooper, Timothy G. (2010) Crystal packing predictions of the alpha-amino acids: methods assessment and structural observations. CrystEngComm, 12 (8), 2443-2453. (doi:10.1039/C002213F).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Crystal structure prediction calculations are performed for four hydrophobic amino acids (alanine, valine, leucine and isoleucine), to test the computational methods that have been developed for flexible organic molecules. Specific focus is placed on the final energy minimisation and optimisation of the molecular conformations in the computer-generated crystal structures. Overall, the results are very encouraging. The observed crystal structures are usually found as the lowest energy predicted structures, demonstrating that crystal packing is predictable by computational methods, even for fairly challenging systems. In addition to the assessment of the computational methods, comparison of the hypothetical with the observed crystal structures provides insight into the balance between hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic side-chain packing that determines the crystal structures of these biologically important molecules.



This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 24 May 2010
Additional Information: This article is part of the collection: New Talent, showcasing the strength of research being carried out by tomorrow's leaders in the field of crystal engineering in its broadest sense, including crystal growth
Organisations: Organic Chemistry: Synthesis, Catalysis and Flow, Computational Systems Chemistry

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 343430
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/343430
ISSN: 1466-8033
PURE UUID: d82bffe1-b7b1-4518-b9c7-64076fbc236b
ORCID for Graeme M. Day: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8396-2771

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 08 Oct 2012 10:24
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:44

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Graeme M. Day ORCID iD
Author: Timothy G. Cooper

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×