Semiempirical and ab initio calculations on the alkaline hydrolysis of the β-lactam ring Influence of the solvent

A multilayered approach to approximating solute polarization

A hybrid multilayered "ONIOM"-type approach to solvation is presented in which the basic free energy of hydration is taken from the Poisson Boltzmann method and the contribution to the solute polarization is taken from a quantum mechanical implementation of the Born method. The method has been tested on the 52 neutral molecules used in the AM1-SM2 parameterization, and the polarized continuum method is taken as the standard by which the results are assessed. Regression analysis shows that the method gives a small improvement over the standard Poisson Boltzmann method or a dramatic improvement over the Born method. The system presented here represents one of the more straightforward applications of the multilayered approach to solvation, but other more sophisticated approaches are discussed.

Hydration and Hydrolysis of alpha-Oxo Carboxylic Acid Derivatives and Conjugate Addition to alpha,beta-Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds: A Density Functional Study

Hydration of the keto group as well as hydrolysis (ester and amide) of alpha-oxo carboxylic acid derivatives has been studied by density functional theory (B3LYP/6-31G and B3LYP/6-311G). Both uncatalyzed as well as water-assisted processes have been considered. Solvent effects were approximated by the self-consistent isodensity surface polarized continuum (SCIPCM) model. For hydrolysis reactions a concerted as well as a stepwise mechanism was calculated. In the latter one, addition of the nucleophile to a tetrahedral intermediate was found to be rate determining. In uncatalyzed processes both concerted and stepwise mechanisms are calculated to have comparable activation energies and free enthalpies. In catalyzed reactions the stepwise mechanism is predicted to be considerably more favorable. Hydration of the alpha-oxo group should be much more feasible than either ester or amide hydrolysis.