Interaction of heteroboranes with biomolecules : Part 2. The effect of various metal vertices and exo-substitutions

Icosahedral heteroboranes and especially metallacarboranes, which have recently been shown to act as potent HIV-1 protease inhibitors, are a unique class of chemical compounds with unusual properties, one of which is the formation of dihydrogen bonds with biomolecules. In this study, we investigate the effect of various metal vertices and exo-substitutions on several series of heteroboranes, including 11-vertex carborane cages [nido-7,8-C2B9Hn]n-13(n= 11,12,13), closo-1-SB11H11, closo-1-NB11H12, metal bis(dicarbollides)[3,3'-M (1,2-C2B9H11)2]n(M/n=Fe/2-, Co/1-, Ni/0) and fluoro (F), amino (NH2) and hydroxo (OH) derivatives of the metal bis(dicarbollides). Besides the properties of isolated systems (geometries, electronic properties and hydration), we study their interactions with a tetrapeptide, which models their biomolecular partner. Calculations have confirmed that the extra hydrogen in [nido-7,8-C2B9H12]- forms a bridge, which fluctuates between two stationary states. Using RESP-derived charges, it was ascertained that the negative charge of heteroboranes is located mainly on boron-bound hydrogens. An increase of the negative total charge (from 0 to -1 or -2) of heteroboranes yields an increase in the stabilisation energies of heteroborane[dot dot dot]peptide complexes and also a substantial increase in the hydration free energies of heteroboranes. Compared to the substitutions of metal vertices, the exo-substitutions of metallacarboranes cause a larger increase in stabilisation energies and a smaller increase in desolvation penalties. These two terms, stabilisation energies and desolvation penalties, contribute in opposite directions to the total heteroborane-biomolecule binding energy and must both be taken into account when designing new HIV-1 protease inhibitors.

A unifying electron-counting rule for macropolyhedral boranes, metallaboranes, and metallocenes

A generally applicable electron-counting rule-the mno rule-that integrates macropolyhedral boranes, metallaboranes, and metallocenes and any combination thereof is presented. According to this rule, m + n + o number of electron pairs are necessary for a macropolyhedral system to be stable. Here, m is the number of polyhedra, n is the number of vertices, and o is the number of single-vertex-sharing condensations. For nido and arachno arrangements, one and two additional pairs of electrons are required. Wade's n + 1 rule is a special case of the mno rule, where m = 1 and o = 0. B20H16, for example has m = 2 and n = 20, leading to 22 electron pairs. Ferrocene, with two nido polyhedral fragments, has m = 2, n = 11, and o = 1, making the total 2 + 11 + 1 + 2 = 16. The generality of the mno rule is demonstrated by applying it to a variety of known macropolyhedral boranes and heteroboranes. We also enumerate the various pathways for condensation by taking icosahedral B12 as the model. The origin of the mno rule is explored by using fragment molecular orbitals. This clearly shows that the number of skeletal bonding molecular orbitals of two polyhedral fragments remains unaltered during exohedral interactions. This is true even when a single vertex is shared, provided the common vertex is large enough to avoid nonbonding interactions of adjacent vertices on either side. But the presence of more than one common vertex results in the sharing of surface orbitals thereby, reducing the electronic requirements.