Isoorotamide-based peptide nucleic acid nucleobases with extended linkers aimed at distal base recognition of adenosine in double helical RNA

• Grant D. Walby,
• Brandon R. Tessier,
• Tristan L. Mabee,
• Jennah M. Hoke,
• Hallie M. Bleam,
• Angelina Giglio-Tos,
• Emily E. Harding,
• Vladislavs Baskevics,
• Martins Katkevics,
• Eriks Rozners and
• James A. MacKay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2513–2523, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.193

• details see Supporting Information File 1). The Db nucleobases were individually incorporated into the PNA model oligonucleotide and subjected to 50 ns unrestricted Desmond molecular dynamics. Pictures from the molecular dynamics simulations shown in Figure 7 represent the conformation of the PNA bases

• from glutaric anhydride [30]. In fact, molecular dynamics simulations did confirm that the amide carbonyl of the linker forms a stable H-bond to the amino group of C (Figure 7C). Since the distal guanosine in the C–G base pair is a mismatch with the isoorotic acid binding moiety, the isoorotamide

Effect of a photoswitchable rotaxane on membrane permeabilization across lipid compositions

• Udyogi N. K. Conthagamage,
• Lilia Lopez,
• Zuliah A. Abdulsalam and
• Víctor García-López

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2498–2512, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.192

• more membrane perturbation compared to the axle alone, in agreement with our previous molecular dynamics simulations, which highlight the importance of the macrocycle to modulate lipid packing [15]. As cholesterol content increased, sulforhodamine B release progressively decreased, consistent with the

• previous molecular dynamics simulations of rotaxane 1 in POPC bilayers, a major component of EYPC [16], showed that rotaxane 1 disrupts lipid packing and promotes water accumulation within the bilayer [15]. These effects enhance membrane permeability to hydrophilic molecules such as sulforhodamine B. The

• azobenzene photoisomerization providing no additional release. This behavior aligns with our previous molecular dynamics simulations, which showed that rotaxane 1 disrupts lipid packing and promotes water accumulation within the bilayer [15]. These effects are driven by the position of the macrocycle in the

Rotaxanes with integrated photoswitches: design principles, functional behavior, and emerging applications

• Jullyane Emi Matsushima,
• Khushbu,
• Zuliah Abdulsalam,
• Udyogi Navodya Kulathilaka Conthagamage and
• Víctor García-López

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2345–2366, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.179

• lipid membrane, leading to reversible changes in giant lipid vesicles. In the trans isomer, the membrane tension decreased, resulting in deformation and pronounced membrane undulations. Isomerization to the cis form increased membrane tension, causing vesicle contraction. Molecular dynamics simulations

Understanding the origin of stereoselectivity in the photochemical denitrogenation of 2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.1]heptene and its derivatives with non-adiabatic molecular dynamics

• Leticia A. Gomes and
• Steven A. Lopez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2007–2020, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.156

• enumerate all possible mechanistic pathways. Non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations We performed an NAMD simulation using the Fewest Switches Surface Hopping (FSSH) algorithm [92][93][94], with OpenMolcas [95][96] and with Python Rapid Artificial Intelligence Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics (Pyrai2MD

Tailored charge-neutral self-assembled L₂Zn₂ container for taming oxalate

• David Ocklenburg and
• David Van Craen

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3007–3015, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.250

• calculated distance from the NOE cross peaks is roughly 2 Å for both contacts. We know that the triazole units can rotate by some degree at ambient temperature based on previous investigations [87]. Thus, dynamic tilting up and downwards of the triazole groups is expected. Molecular dynamics simulations (xTB

Computational toolbox for the analysis of protein–glycan interactions

• Ferran Nieto-Fabregat,
• Maria Pia Lenza,
• Angela Marseglia,
• Cristina Di Carluccio,
• Antonio Molinaro,
• Alba Silipo and
• Roberta Marchetti

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2084–2107, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.180

• , both in free state and in complex with proteins, also with reference to the principles, methodologies, and applications of all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. Herein, we focused on the programs that are generally employed for preparing protein and glycan input files to execute molecular dynamics

• web servers and downloadable software, which can help researchers in designing the workflow to study a glycan–protein system, are also reported. Computational tools to study glycans in the free state Since the first molecular dynamics simulations performed in the late 1980s on oligomannose type

• , CHARMM27, and CHARMM36 (all atom) are some of the popular force fields available in the program. (https://www.academiccharmm.org/) 3. GROMACS [63]: GROMACS is the acronym for "Groningen Machine for Chemical Simulations"; it is a powerful open-source software package for molecular dynamics simulations in

Electron-beam-promoted fullerene dimerization in nanotubes: insights from DFT computations

• Laura Abella,
• Gerard Novell-Leruth,
• Josep M. Ricart,
• Josep M. Poblet and
• Antonio Rodríguez-Fortea

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 92–100, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.10

• surface that describes the formation of irreversible C–C bonds. Molecular dynamics simulations were done in the radical C120 dimer alone; we did not consider the interaction with the CNT. After a 4 ps metadynamics, we observed the sequential formation of C–C bonds between the two C60 cages up to a number

Synthesis of ether lipids: natural compounds and analogues

• Marco Antônio G. B. Gomes,
• Alicia Bauduin,
• Chloé Le Roux,
• Romain Fouinneteau,
• Wilfried Berthe,
• Mathieu Berchel,
• Hélène Couthon and
• Paul-Alain Jaffrès

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1299–1369, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.96

Phenanthridine–pyrene conjugates as fluorescent probes for DNA/RNA and an inactive mutant of dipeptidyl peptidase enzyme

• Josipa Matić,
• Tana Tandarić,
• Marijana Radić Stojković,
• Filip Šupljika,
• Zrinka Karačić,
• Ana Tomašić Paić,
• Lucija Horvat,
• Robert Vianello and
• Lidija-Marija Tumir

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 550–565, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.40

• in the cell membrane. Keywords: dipeptidyl peptidase enzyme; excimer; molecular dynamics simulations; phenanthridine; polynucleotide; pyrene; Introduction The design of small molecules that can selectively bind and discriminate different biomolecular structures (polynucleotides vs proteins, DNA or

• pKa = 6.3. We assumed that this value would not change much in the prepared conjugates, which confirms that both Phen-Py-1 and Phen-Py-2 are monoprotonated at pH 5. We submitted all four systems to molecular dynamics simulations and performed clustering analysis on the obtained structures. The most

• interaction between phenanthridine and pyrene, which was more pronounced at weakly acidic pH where the phenanthridine nitrogen was protonated. Experimental data agreed well with molecular dynamics simulations, which confirmed that folded structures are more frequent in monoprotonated derivatives Phen-Py-1

Computational model predicts protein binding sites of a luminescent ligand equipped with guanidiniocarbonyl-pyrrole groups

• Neda Rafieiolhosseini,
• Matthias Killa,
• Thorben Neumann,
• Niklas Tötsch,
• Jean-Noël Grad,
• Alexander Höing,
• Thies Dirksmeyer,
• Jochen Niemeyer,
• Christian Ottmann,
• Shirley K. Knauer,
• Michael Giese,
• Jens Voskuhl and
• Daniel Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1322–1331, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.137

• 1.5.2 [41]. To validate our method, we applied it to the QQJ-096/14-3-3/c-Raf complex for which the potential binding site was available from all-atom molecular dynamics simulations in a previous study [26]. Our results for this system are reported in the first part of the Supporting Information File 1

Peptide stapling by late-stage Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling

• Hendrik Gruß,
• Rebecca C. Feiner,
• Ridhiwan Mseya,
• David C. Schröder,
• Michał Jewgiński,
• Kristian M. Müller,
• Rafał Latajka,
• Antoine Marion and
• Norbert Sewald

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1–12, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.1

• . The conformational preferences of the stapled peptide P5 and of the linear peptides P6 and aAxWt were investigated via extensive accelerated molecular dynamics simulations (aMD) as implemented within the Amber18 program package [85]. The aMD methodology developed by McCammon and co-workers [86] has

• of the three cleavage sites are blocked by the macrocycle. Accelerated molecular dynamics simulations verified a significantly higher degree of helicity for SMC stapled peptide P5 compared to the linear analogues P6 and aAxWt, which is in accordance with the experimental data obtained from CD and

Double-headed nucleosides: Synthesis and applications

• Vineet Verma,
• Jyotirmoy Maity,
• Vipin K. Maikhuri,
• Ritika Sharma,
• Himal K. Ganguly and
• Ashok K. Prasad

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1392–1439, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.98

• strands. Oligonucleotides with fourteen consecutive incorporations of different double-headed nucleosides were synthesized and the DNA duplexes showed increased stability owing to increased stacking interactions among the nucleobases of the opposite strands [72]. Molecular dynamics simulations

• into oligonucleotides resulted in the formation of unstable duplexes with complementary DNA and RNA strands whereas four consecutive incorporations led to increased duplex stability due to an efficient stacking of heteroaromatic triazoles as revealed by CD spectroscopy and molecular dynamics

• simulations [15][22]. The double-headed nucleoside 157a was further used for the synthesis of 5-(phenyltriazol)-2′-deoxyuridine-modified 2′-O-methyl mixmer antisense oligonucleotides (AOs). The obtained AOs were investigated for their potential to induce exon skipping in DMD (Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Comparative ligand structural analytics illustrated on variably glycosylated MUC1 antigen–antibody binding

• Christopher B. Barnett,
• Tharindu Senapathi and
• Kevin J. Naidoo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2540–2550, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.206

• approach by investigating the in-silico binding of a peptide and glycopeptide epitope of the glycoprotein Mucin 1 (MUC1) binding with the antibody AR20.5. To study the binding, we performed molecular dynamics simulations using OpenMM and then used the Galaxy platform for data analysis. The same analysis

Leveraging glycomics data in glycoprotein 3D structure validation with Privateer

• Haroldas Bagdonas,
• Daniel Ungar and
• Jon Agirre

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2523–2533, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.204

• study of these glycan-mediated interactions can provide unique insight into the molecular interplay governing these processes. In addition, it can provide structural snapshots in atomistic detail that can be used to generate molecular dynamics simulations describing a wider picture underpinning glycan

• /glycoproteomics to carbohydrate 3D model building and validation in Privateer Many fields, for example pharmaceutical design and engineering [58], molecular dynamics simulations [59] and protein interaction studies [60], rely upon structural biology to produce accurate atomistic descriptions of glycoproteins

Computational tools for drawing, building and displaying carbohydrates: a visual guide

• Kanhaya Lal,
• Rafael Bermeo and
• Serge Perez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2448–2468, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.199

• models. These tools generally use 3D molecular templates of monosaccharides to reconstruct a 3D model. Energy minimisation methods can further refine the models. These models are essential for structure-based studies and complex calculations like Molecular Dynamics simulations. Therefore, the accurate

pH- and concentration-dependent supramolecular self-assembly of a naturally occurring octapeptide

• Goutam Ghosh and
• Gustavo Fernández

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2017–2025, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.168

• (Glu−) amino acids [73][74]. Mechanistic insights into the observed conformational transformation via molecular dynamics simulations are underway in our laboratory. Conclusion In summary, we synthesized a naturally occurring amphiphilic peptide fragment, PEP-1, from a β-sheet lectin protein, galectin-1

Synthesis, docking study and biological evaluation of ᴅ-fructofuranosyl and ᴅ-tagatofuranosyl sulfones as potential inhibitors of the mycobacterial galactan synthesis targeting the galactofuranosyltransferase GlfT2

• Marek Baráth,
• Jana Jakubčinová,
• Zuzana Konyariková,
• Stanislav Kozmon,
• Katarína Mikušová and
• Maroš Bella

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1853–1862, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.152

• mechanism studies using computational chemistry methods. The probable reaction mechanisms were studied by hybrid DFT QM/MM molecular dynamics simulations [11] where the possible transition state (TS) structures were localized. The observation of the possible TS structure opens the opportunities for the in

• structures. All fructofuranose and tagatofuranose derivatives were docked into the GlfT2 structure obtained by QM/MM molecular dynamics simulations, which representes the structure close to the transition state structure of the GlfT2 catalytic reaction. The best ten docking poses of each docked molecule were

Water inside β-cyclodextrin cavity: amount, stability and mechanism of binding

• Stiliyana Pereva,
• Valya Nikolova,
• Silvia Angelova,
• Tony Spassov and
• Todor Dudev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1592–1600, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.163

• disordered and mobile, and that the OH groups of the host β-CD may rotate [17]. Studies with molecular dynamics simulations have found only four water molecules inside the host β-CD cavity [18]. The energetics of the CD hydration/dehydration have been investigated as well. Experimental studies have been able

Synthesis and conformational preferences of short analogues of antifreeze glycopeptides (AFGP)

• Małgorzata Urbańczyk,
• Michał Jewgiński,
• Joanna Krzciuk-Gula,
• Jerzy Góra,
• Rafał Latajka and
• Norbert Sewald

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1581–1591, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.162

• into the ice lattice [12], others investigated the adsorption process on different surfaces via atomic force microscopy [10][13][14]. The antifreeze activity has been correlated with long-range perturbation of hydration dynamics [15]. Latest molecular dynamics simulations suggest that AFGP reversibly

Stereo- and regioselective hydroboration of 1-exo-methylene pyranoses: discovery of aryltriazolylmethyl C-galactopyranosides as selective galectin-1 inhibitors

• Alexander Dahlqvist,
• Axel Furevi,
• Niklas Warlin,
• Hakon Leffler and
• Ulf J. Nilsson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1046–1060, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.102

6’-Fluoro[4.3.0]bicyclo nucleic acid: synthesis, biophysical properties and molecular dynamics simulations

• Sibylle Frei,
• Andrei Istrate and
• Christian J. Leumann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 3088–3097, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.288

• modification might be a substrate for RNase H. Keywords: DNA/RNA affinity; fluorinated cyclopropanes; fluorinated nucleic acids; molecular dynamics simulations; sugar modified nucleosides; Introduction A powerful strategy for the treatment of various disorders like cancer, viral and inherited diseases is the

• unit and possibly positively impact the duplex stability. Here we report on the synthesis of the two 6’F-bc4,3 pyrimidine analogs with the base T and C, their incorporation into DNA, their biophysical properties, as well as a structural analysis by molecular dynamics simulations of hybrid DNA and RNA

• structure, giving evidence of mixed A/B-type helices. Molecular modeling To gain more information on the structural features of the 6’F-bc4,3 modification, we performed molecular dynamics simulations of the modified duplexes. We first calculated the potential energy profile versus pseudorotation phase angle

Crystal structure of the inclusion complex of cholesterol in β-cyclodextrin and molecular dynamics studies

• Elias Christoforides,
• Andreas Papaioannou and
• Kostas Bethanis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 838–848, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.69

• stoichiometry 2:1) (Figure 2a) were subjected to equilibration and subsequent molecular dynamics simulations at both 300 and 340 K in explicit water solvent for almost 12 ns with the aim to monitor the dynamic behavior of CHL in β-CD in two different temperatures, study the host–guest interactions during the

Fluorogenic PNA probes

• Tirayut Vilaivan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 253–281, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.17

The use of 4,4,4-trifluorothreonine to stabilize extended peptide structures and mimic β-strands

• Yaochun Xu,
• Isabelle Correia,
• Tap Ha-Duong,
• Nadjib Kihal,
• Jean-Louis Soulier,
• Julia Kaffy,
• Benoît Crousse,
• Olivier Lequin and
• Sandrine Ongeri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2842–2853, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.276

• obtained through the aldol reaction of trifluoroacetaldehyde with the Ni(II) complex of the chiral Schiff base of glycine. The conformational analysis of these pentapeptides was conducted by the combined use of NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations. NMR conformational studies showed that the

• dynamics simulations. CF3-threonine containing pentapeptides are more prone to mimic β-strands than their natural Ser and Thr pentapeptide analogues. The proof of concept that these fluorinated β-strand mimics are able to disrupt protein–protein interactions involving β-sheet structures is provided. The

• , L-threonine, (2S,3R)-L-CF3-threonine and (2S,3S)-L-CF3-threonine were prepared. The capacity of (2S,3S)- and (2S,3R)-CF3-threonine analogues to stabilize an extended structure when introduced in the central position of pentapeptides is demonstrated by NMR conformational studies and molecular

2-Methyl-2,4-pentanediol (MPD) boosts as detergent-substitute the performance of ß-barrel hybrid catalyst for phenylacetylene polymerization

• Julia Kinzel,
• Daniel F. Sauer,
• Marco Bocola,
• Marcus Arlt,
• Tayebeh Mirzaei Garakani,
• Andreas Thiel,
• Klaus Beckerle,
• Tino Polen,
• Jun Okuda and
• Ulrich Schwaneberg

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1498–1506, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.148

• rhodium-based biohybrid catalyst. Unlike commonly used detergents such as sodium dodecyl sulfate or polyethylene polyethyleneglycol, MPD does not form micelles in solution. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed the effect and position of stabilizing MPD molecules. The advantage of the amphiphilic MPD