Imidazole molecule, biological relevance

In contrast, LFMM/LFMD is much faster and provides a uniform treatment over the whole molecule (i.e., there are no link atoms). Moreover, proteins behave like giant ligands. They may be exquisitely complex and varied but, at the end of the day, the intrinsic bonding interaction between, say, Cu(II) and the N of imidazole is essentially the same whether the imidazole is a free ligand or happens to be part of a histidine which is, in turn, connected to a peptide backbone. Hence, if an LFMM FF can be constructed for small coordination complexes containing biologically relevant donors, then it should work for whole proteins. 

The substitution of the uranyl ion in the presence of biologically relevant neutral donors has produced a class of interesting molecules. For instance, treating [U02(N03)2] with citric, D-(-)-citramalic, or tricarballylic (1,2,3-propanetricarboxylic) acids produces two- and three-dimensional frameworks [57-59]. Imidazole coordination has also been explored with the first definitive high-resolution single-crystal X-ray structure for the coordination of 1-methylimidazole ( imid) to [U02(Ac)2] (Ac=CH3C02) (Fig. 10). The... 

The imidazole molecule is incorporated into many biologically relevant molecules. For example, the amino acid histidine is present in proteins and enzymes, while histamine (its decarboxylated product) is important in the body s immune response system. The imidazole ring has been found in a number of natural products, particularly the oroidin-derived alkaloids. One of the structurally simple compounds in this class of natural products is girolline, containing a 2-amino-imidazole attached to a chlorohydrin moiety. ... 

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