Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Vol.115, No.9, 1686-1700, 2011
Study of the Structural and Electronic Properties of Valproic Acid and New Derivatives Used As Anticonvulsant Agents
The conformational and electronic characteristics of the polar O-9=C-8-X-10 moiety in the anticonvulsant valproic add (Vpa) drug and some of their amides and ester derivatives are analyzed at the B3LYP level using the 6-31+G(d,p) and 6-311++G(d,p) 6d,10f basis sets. Exploring the delocalization of the electron density of the O-9=C-8-X-10 moiety by means of ELF, NBO, and AIM calculations, we found that the bending away from coplanarity of the atoms in O-9=C-8-X-10 is accompanied by a three-dimensional arrangement of donor and acceptor proton units dosing nearly planar pseudorings of four, five, and six members arising from stabilizing interactions around the O-9=C-8-X-10 backbone. From the structure-property relationship analysis, we explain the origin of the change in the structural parameters and atomic charges in the polar moiety.