Impact sensitivity, one of the most important screening factors for novel high energy density materials (HEDMs), was predicted by use of quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) based on the electrostatic potential (ESP) values calculated on the van der Waals molecular surface (MSEP). Among various 3D descriptors derived from MSEP, we utilized total and positive variance of MSEP, and devised a new QSPR equation by combining three other parameters. We employed 37 HEDMs bearing a benzene scaffold and nitro substituents, which were also utilized by Rice and Hare. All the molecular structures were optimized at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory and confirmed as minima by the frequency calculations. Our new QSPR equation provided a good result to predict the impact sensitivities of the molecules in the training set including zwitterionic molecules.
Prediction of physicochemical properties of organic molecules is an important process in chemistry and chemical engineering. The MSEP approach developed in our lab calculates the molecular surface electrostatic potential (ESP) on van der Waals (vdW) surfaces of molecules. This approach includes geometry optimization and frequency calculation using hybrid density functional theory, B3LYP, at the 6-31G(d) basis set to find minima on the potential energy surface, and is known to give satisfactory QSPR results for various properties of organic molecules. However, this MSEP method is not applicable to screen large database because geometry optimization and frequency calculation require considerable computing time. To develop a fast but yet reliable approach, we have re-examined our previous work on organic molecules using two semi-empirical methods, AM1 and PM3. This new approach can be an efficient protocol in designing new molecules with improved properties.
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