Force field class

Inadequate availability of experimental data can considerably inhibit the development of improved energy functions for more accurate simulations of energetic, structural, and spectroscopic properties. This has led to the development of class II force fields such as CFF and the Merck Molecular Force Field (MMFF), which are both based primarily on quantum mechanical calculations of the energy surface. The purpose of MMFF, which has been developed by Thomas Halgren at Merck and Co., is to be able to handle all functional groups of interest in pharmaceutical design. 

All the constants in these equations must be obtained from experimental data or an ah initio calculation. The database of compounds used to parameterize the method is crucial to its success. A molecular mechanics method may be parameterized against a specific class of molecules, such as proteins or nucleotides. Such a force field would only be expected to have any relevance in... 

It is occasionally desirable to add new parameters to a molecular mechanics force field. This might mean adding an element that is not in the parameterization set or correctly describing a particular atom in a specihc class of molecules. 

Molecular mechanics methods have only been used to a limited extent for these classes of compounds. However, molecular mechanics methods do fairly well in describing the geometries and relative energies of compounds with these elements. It is perhaps only for historical and economic reasons that molecular mechanics has not been used more for modeling these elements. Subsequently, there are not as many force fields available. 

In the past, when molecular mechanics methods were used for transition metals, it was by having a set of parameters for the metal that were parameterized specifically for one class of compounds. There have been a number of full periodic table force fields created, with the most successful being the UFF force field. All the full periodic molecular mechanics methods still give completely unreasonable results for certain classes of compounds. 

Cartesian coordinates system for locating points in space based on three coordinates, which are usually given the symbols x, y, z or i, j, k CBS (complete basis set) an ah initio method CC (coupled cluster) a correlated ah initio method CFF (consistent force field) a class of molecular mechanics force fields CFMM (continuous fast multipole method) a method for fast DFT calculations on large molecules... 

Each force field achieves good results only for a limited class of molecules, related to those for which it was parametrized. No force field can be generally used for all molecular systems of interest. 

Deriving such heat of formation parameters requires a large body of experimental Ai/f values. For many classes of compound there are not sufficient data available. Only a few force fields, notably MM2 and MM3, attempt to parameterize also heats of formation. Most force fields are only concerned with reproducing geometries and possibly conformational relative energies, for which the steric energy is sufficient. 

The parameterization process may be done sequentially or in a combined fashion. In the sequential method a certain class of compound, such as hydrocarbons, is parameterized first. These parameters are held fixed, and a new class of compound, for example alcohols and ethers, is then parameterized. Tins method is in line with the basic assumption of force fields parameters are transferable. The advantage is that only a fairly small number of parameters are fitted at a time. The ErrF is therefore a relatively low-dimensional function, and one can be reasonably certain that a good minimum has been found (although it may not be the global minimum). The disadvantage is that the final set of parameters necessarily provides a poorer fit (as defined from the value of the ErrF) than if all the parameters are fitted simultaneously. 

Vinylindoles have been studied extensively and used in the synthesis of carbazoles, alkaloids and other classes of pharmacologically active compounds. MMX force field calculations have shown that coplanar s-cis and. s-trans conformations of 3-vinylindole (84, Figure 2.11) are the most stable conformers they exhibit only slight differences in their thermodynamic stabilities [86]. 

Force fields split naturally into two main classes all-atom force fields and united atom force fields. In the former, each atom in the system is represented explicitly by potential functions. In the latter, hydrogens attached to heavy atoms (such as carbon) are removed. In their place single united (or extended) atom potentials are used. In this type of force field a CH2 group would appear as a single spherical atom. United atom sites have the advantage of greatly reducing the number of interaction sites in the molecule, but in certain cases can seriously limit the accuracy of the force field. United atom force fields are most usually required for the most computationally expensive tasks, such as the simulation of bulk liquid crystal phases via molecular dynamics or Monte Carlo methods (see Sect. 5.1). 

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