Analytic First and Second Derivatives for the Fragment Molecular Orbital
Method Combined with Molecular Mechanics
Abstract
Analytic first and second derivatives of the energy are developed for
the fragment molecular orbital method interfaced with molecular
mechanics in the electrostatic embedding scheme at the level of
Hartree-Fock and density functional theory. The importance of the
orbital response terms is demonstrated. The role of the electrostatic
embedding upon molecular vibrations is analyzed, comparing force field
and quantum-mechanical treatments for an ionic liquid and a solvated
protein. The method is applied for 100 protein conformations sampled in
MD to take into account the complexity of a flexible protein structure
in solution, and a good agreement to experimental data is obtained:
frequencies from an experimental IR spectrum are reproduced within 17
cm$^{-1}$.