Structural evolution of nucleobase clusters using force field models and density functional theory

Abstract

We report global minima for all nucleobase clusters (nucleobase)n, with 2 ≤ n ≤ 4. The global minima are predicted using force field based global optimization methods followed by local optimizations using the dispersion corrected DFT method. In this study, we use both non-polarizable (OPLS-AA) and polarizable (AMOEBA) force fields for global optimization. Here we emphasize on the reliability of AMOEBA force field used for predicting accurate global minima of nucleobase clusters. The average deviation in binding energies using AMOEBA is 3 kcal/mol from the DFT while the average deviation using OPLS-AA is 8 kcal/mol from DFT. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.