Hybrid classical quantum force field for modeling very large molecules

A coherent computational scheme on a very large molecule in which the subsystem that undergoes the most important electronic changes is treated by a semiempirical quantum chemical method, though the rest of the molecule is described by a classical force field, has been proposed recently. The continuity between the two subsystems is obtained by a strictly localized bond orbital, which is assumed to have transferable properties determined on model molecules. The computation of the forces acting on the atoms is now operating, giving rise to a hybrid classical quantum force field (CQFF) which allows full energy minimization and modeling chemical changes in large biomolecules. As an illustrative example, we study the short hydrogen bonds and the proton-exchange process in the histidine-aspartic acid system of the catalytic triad of human neutrophil elastase. The CQFF approach reproduces the crystallographic data quite well, in opposition to a classical force field. The method also offers the possibility of switching off the electrostatic interaction between the quantum and the classical subsystems, allowing us to analyze the various components of the perturbation exerted by the macromolecule in the reactive part. Molecular dynamics confirm a fast proton exchange between the three possible energy wells. The method appears to be quite powerful and applicable to other cases of chemical interest such as surface reactivity of nonmetallic solids. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.