Strength of a bifurcated H bond
Abstract
Hydrogen bonding is one of the characteristic features of macromolecules. Therefore, it is not surprising that extensive research has gone into understanding the energetics and importance of hydrogen bonding. All of these studies focused on hydrogen bonds that involve a single donor and acceptor pair. Yet the H-bonding potential of many acceptors leads to the phenomenon of overcoordination between two donors and one acceptor. Here we have used both experimental approaches and computational analyses to measure the strength of such bifurcated hydrogen bonds and show that their energy is between 60% and 50% of canonical H bonds. Finally, we show how the energetics of bifurcated H bonds directly impact amino acid side-chain structure.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- March 2014
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1319827111
- Bibcode:
- 2014PNAS..111.4085F