Solv: An Alternative Continuum Model Implementation Based on Fixed Atomic Charges, Scaled Particle Theory, and the Atom-Atom Potential Method

J Chem Theory Comput. 2023 Aug 8;19(15):5221-5230. doi: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00410. Epub 2023 Jun 30.

Abstract

An alternative continuum model implementation is reported. The electrostatic contribution to the solvation Gibbs free energy utilizes the noniterative conductor-like screening model of Vyboishchikov and Voityuk (DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26531) based on the fixed partial atomic charges. The nonelectrostatic solute-solvent dispersion-repulsion energy is calculated through the Caillet-Claverie atom-atom potential method employing the grid-based approach. The nonelectrostatic cavitation energy is computed within the scaled particle theory (SPT) formalism with the solute hard-sphere radius obtained via the Pierotti-Claverie (PC) scheme, from the solute molecular surface (SPT-S) or volume (SPT-V). The solvent hard-sphere radius is derived through the fitting to the experimental total solvation free energies of 2530 neutral species in 92 solvents. Application of the model to reproduce both the absolute and relative (reaction net) solvation free energies indicates that the SPT-V approach based on the CM5 charges is the best performer. The method is suggested for the solvation free energy calculation in the nonaqueous solvents.