DFT Study of the Solvent Effects on the Structure, UV-Vis Spectra and the Antioxidant Activity of Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester and Some of Its Derivatives

In this study, the antioxidative （3-methyl-2-butenyl caffeate）, BC efficiency of CAPE （caffeic acid phenethyl ester） and four of its derivatives （MBC （benzoic caffeate）, P3HC （phenethyl-3-hydroxy-cinnamate） and P4HC （phenethyl-4-hydroxy-cinnamate）） are compared in vacuum and in seven solvents. It turned out that the AA （antioxidant activity） in increasing order was P3HC 〈 P4HC 〈 CAPE 〈 MBC. Effects of solvents on the structure and the antioxidant activity of P3HC, P4HC, BC, MBC and CAPE, were studied at 133LYP/6-31G （d, p） then B3LYP/6-3 I＋G （d, p） level of theory using the conductor polarized continuum model methods. Thermodynamically, the authors showed that solvent effects on bond dissociation enthalpy are very weak （within 25 kJ/mol）, but sufficient to influence hydrogen bonds, O-H bond lengths and showed the preferential sites of hydrogen atom cleavage. In addition, solvent notably influences and changes the nature of the scavenging process of ROS （reactive oxygen species）, favouring by this way the HHAT （homolytic hydrogen atom transfer） in non polar solvents, the SPLET （sequential proton loss electron transfer） in polar solvents. Moreover, in chloroform and for the five molecules studied the SET-PT （sequential electron transfer proton transfer） mechanism is preferred compared to the HHAT, because in this solvent the IP is lower than the BDE. TD-DFT calculations revealed that solvent induce a bathochromic effect （red-shift of the wavelengths） coupled to hyperchromic or hypochromic effects.

DFT Study of Geometrical and Vibrational Features of Sulfur Containing Amino Acids in Hydrated Media： L-Cysteine and L-Methionine

Geometry optimization at the B3LYP/6-31＋＋G＊ level of theory has been undertaken on clusters containing L-Met （L-methionine） or L-Cys （L-cysteine） surrounded by eight water molecules. The comparison of the structural parameters of L-Met and L-Cys with X-ray experimental values is in good agreement within 4.8%. This result shows that the privileged positions of water molecules and the possible hydrogen bonding network formed around the backbone of both AAs （amino acids） are adequate. Subsequent calculations of the harmonic vibrational modes followed by a post-processing treatment enable us to assign the vibrational modes of L-Met and L-Cys surrounded explicitly by eight water molecules. The frequencies of the assigned modes are in good agreement with available IR （infra red） and Raman values within 5%.