Jaguar is an ab initio quantum chemical program that specializes in fast electronic structure predictions for molecular systems of medium and large size. Jaguar focuses on computational methods with reasonable computational scaling with the size of the system, such as density functional theory (DFT) and local second-order Moller–Plesset perturbation theory. The favorable scaling of the methods and the high efficiency of the program make it possible to conduct routine computations involving several thousand molecular orbitals. This performance is achieved through a utilization of the pseudospectral approximation and several levels of parallelization. The speed advantages are beneficial for applying Jaguar in biomolecular computational modeling. Additionally, owing to its superior wave function guess for transition-metal-containing systems, Jaguar finds applications in inorganic and bioinorganic chemistry. The emphasis on larger systems and transition metal elements paves the way toward developing Jaguar for its use in materials science modeling. The article describes the historical and new features of Jaguar, such as improved parallelization of many modules, innovations in ab initio pKa prediction, and new semiempirical corrections for nondynamic correlation errors in DFT. Jaguar applications in drug discovery, materials science, force field parameterization, and other areas of computational research are reviewed. Timing benchmarks and other results obtained from the most recent Jaguar code are provided. The article concludes with a discussion of challenges and directions for future development of the program. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/qua.24481

Jaguar: A high-performance quantum chemistry software program with strengths in life and materials sciences

This review describes a multidimensional treatment of molecular recognition phenomena involving aromatic rings in chemical and biological systems. It summarizes new results reported since the appearance of an earlier review in 2003 in host-guest chemistry, biological affinity assays and biostructural analysis, data base mining in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and the Protein Data Bank (PDB), and advanced computational studies. Topics addressed are arene-arene, perfluoroarene-arene, S⋅⋅⋅aromatic, cation-π, and anion-π interactions, as well as hydrogen bonding to π systems. The generated knowledge benefits, in particular, structure-based hit-to-lead development and lead optimization both in the pharmaceutical and in the crop protection industry. It equally facilitates the development of new advanced materials and supramolecular systems, and should inspire further utilization of interactions with aromatic rings to control the stereochemical outcome of synthetic transformations.

Aromatic rings in chemical and biological recognition: energetics and structures.

Organic chemists tend to consider the conformation of compounds as a consequence of repulsive steric interactions. In other words, “the steric effect” means “repulsive” in many cases. Thus, folded conformations observed in organic molecules have been often regarded as unusual, while the reason remained undecided. However, accurate determinations by modern spectroscopic methods, recent crystallographic data, and high-level ab initio MO calculations have demonstrated that the folded conformation is by no means exceptional. We will show that the gauche or folded conformation prevails in organic compounds bearing at least an electronegative or π-group in the molecule. We consider that the above phenomenon finds its origin, in most cases, in nonconventional hydrogen bonds such as the CH/X (X ) O, halogen, etc.) and the XH/π (X ) O, N, C, etc.) hydrogen bonds. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: shu@ hiroshima-u.ac.jp. ‡ Hiroshima University. § Yokohama National University. ⊥ The CHPI Institute. Chem. Rev. 2010, 110, 6049–6076 6049

Relevance of Weak Hydrogen Bonds in the Conformation of Organic Compounds and Bioconjugates: Evidence from Recent Experimental Data and High-Level ab Initio MO Calculations

There is great need for stand-alone luminescence-based chemosensors that exemplify selectivity, sensitivity, and applicability and that overcome the challenges that arise from complex, real-world media. Discussed herein are recent developments toward these goals in the field of supramolecular luminescent chemosensors, including macrocycles, polymers, and nanomaterials. Specific focus is placed on the development of new macrocycle hosts since 2010, coupled with considerations of the underlying principles of supramolecular chemistry as well as analytes of interest and common luminophores. State-of-the-art developments in the fields of polymer and nanomaterial sensors are also examined, and some remaining unsolved challenges in the area of chemosensors are discussed.

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Supramolecular Luminescent Sensors

Optical band gaps of organic semiconductor materials

Geometry and vibrations of N-methylpyrrole in the S0 state studied by dispersed fluorescence spectroscopy and ab initio calculations

Hole-burning spectroscopy of jet-cooled hydroquinone

Vibronic spectroscopy and intramolecular vibrational relaxation studies were carried out on jet-cooled hydroquinone, p-methoxyphenol, and p-ethoxyphenol using laser-induced fluorescence measurements. The cis and trans isomeric forms of all three compounds exist even under jet-cooled conditions. Hole-burning spectroscopy was used to separate the transitions due to each of them. Vibrational assignments were made with the help of dispersed fluorescence spectra after single vibronic excitations. The fluorescence spectra were also used to deduce the onset of mode mixing, a precursor to IVR. The IVR onset in the case of hydroquinone was quite high, i.e., 1650 cm-1, and it decreased substantially in p-methoxyphenol. It did not decrease any further for p-ethoxyphenol. One of the objectives of this study was to compare the IVR behavior in this series to that in p-alkoxyanilines, or more specifically, to compare the effect of the presence of an −OH group vs an −NH2 group in the para position on IVR.

Spectroscopy and IVR in the S1 State of Jet-Cooled p-Alkoxyphenols

The C-H···Y (Y=hydrogen-bond acceptor) interactions are somewhat unconventional in the context of hydrogen-bonding interactions. Typical C-H stretching frequency shifts in the hydrogen-bond donor C-H group are not only small, that is, of the order of a few tens of cm(-1) , but also bidirectional, that is, they can be red or blue shifted depending on the hydrogen-bond acceptor. In this work we examine the C-H···N interaction in complexes of 7-azaindole with CHCl3 and CHF3 that are prepared in the gas phase through supersonic jet expansion using the fluorescence depletion by infra-red (FDIR) method. Although the hydrogen-bond acceptor, 7-azaindole, has multiple sites of interaction, it is found that the C-H···N hydrogen-bonding interaction prevails over the others. The electronic excitation spectra suggest that both complexes are more stabilized in the S1 state than in the S0 state. The C-H stretching frequency is found to be red shifted by 82 cm(-1) in the CHCl3 complex, which is the largest redshift reported so far in gas-phase investigations of 1:1 haloform complexes with various substrates. In the CHF3 complex the observed C-H frequency is blue shifted by 4 cm(-1). This is at variance with the frequency shifts that are predicted using several computational methods; these predict at best a redshift of 8.5 cm(-1). This discrepancy is analogous to that reported for the pyridine-CHF3 complex [W. A. Herrebout, S. M. Melikova, S. N. Delanoye, K. S. Rutkowski, D. N. Shchepkin, B. J. van der Veken, J. Phys. Chem. A- 2005, 109, 3038], in which the blueshift is termed a pseudo blueshift and is shown to be due to the shifting of levels caused by Fermi resonance between the overtones of the C-H bending and stretching modes. The dissociation energies, (D0), of the CHCl3 and CHF3 complexes are computed (MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level) as 6.46 and 5.06 kcal mol(-1), respectively.

C-H···N hydrogen-bonding interaction in 7-azaindole:CHX3 (X=F, Cl) complexes.

The N–H···S hydrogen bond, even though classified as an unconventional hydrogen bond, is found to bear important structural implications on protein structure and folding. In this article, we report...

N-H···S Interaction Continues To Be an Enigma: Experimental and Computational Investigations of Hydrogen-Bonded Complexes of Benzimidazole with Thioethers.

Sanjay Wategaonkar

Papers

Geometry and vibrations of N-methylpyrrole in the S0 state studied by dispersed fluorescence spectroscopy and ab initio calculations

Hole-burning spectroscopy of jet-cooled hydroquinone

Spectroscopy and IVR in the S1 State of Jet-Cooled p-Alkoxyphenols

C-H···N hydrogen-bonding interaction in 7-azaindole:CHX3 (X=F, Cl) complexes.

N-H···S Interaction Continues To Be an Enigma: Experimental and Computational Investigations of Hydrogen-Bonded Complexes of Benzimidazole with Thioethers.