CICECO, Departamento de Química, Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
J Phys Chem B. 2012 Feb 16;116(6):1831-42. doi: 10.1021/jp209625e. Epub 2012 Feb 3.
Although the understanding of the influence of ionic liquids (ILs) on the solubility behavior of biomolecules in aqueous solutions is relevant for the design and optimization of novel biotechnological processes, the underlying molecular-level mechanisms are not yet consensual or clearly elucidated. In order to contribute to the understanding of the molecular interactions established between amino acids and ILs in aqueous media, classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed for aqueous solutions of five amino acids with different structural characteristics (glycine, alanine, valine, isoleucine, and glutamic acid) in the presence of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl imide. The results from MD simulations enable to relate the properties of the amino acids, namely their hydrophobicity, to the type and strength of their interactions with ILs in aqueous solutions and provide an explanation for the direction and magnitude of the solubility phenomena observed in [IL + amino acid + water] systems by a mechanism governed by a balance between competitive interactions of the IL cation, IL anion, and water with the amino acids.
尽管离子液体 (ILs) 对生物分子在水溶液中溶解度行为的影响的理解与新型生物技术过程的设计和优化相关，但潜在的分子水平机制尚不一致或尚未明确阐明。为了有助于理解在水介质中氨基酸和 ILs 之间建立的分子相互作用，针对具有不同结构特征的五种氨基酸（甘氨酸、丙氨酸、缬氨酸、异亮氨酸和谷氨酸）在 1-丁基-3-甲基咪唑双（三氟甲基磺酰基）亚胺存在下的水溶液进行了经典分子动力学 (MD) 模拟。MD 模拟的结果使我们能够将氨基酸的性质（即疏水性）与其与水溶液中的 IL 相互作用的类型和强度相关联，并为通过 IL 阳离子、IL 阴离子和水与氨基酸之间的竞争相互作用之间的平衡来解释在 [IL+氨基酸+水] 系统中观察到的溶解度现象的方向和大小提供了一个解释。
