Propriedades estruturais, eletrônicas e vibracionais de Cristais do Ácido Aspártico (ASP): simulações computacionais no formalismo DFT

Abstract

Computer simulations within the Density Functional Theory (DFT) formalism were accomplished to find the structural, electronic and vibrational properties of aspartic acid (Asp) crystals in the L-anhydrous, L-monohydrated, and DL-anhydrous phases. Aspartic acid is a non-essential amino acid with a role in the fadigue resistance mechanism. It also works as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, contributes to eliminate any excess of toxins from the cells and is capable to affect RNA synthesis. The computer codes CASTEP (for crystals) and GAUSSIAN (for molecules) were employed in the present study. For the aspartic acid crystals, LDA and GGA-PBE exchange-correlation functional were used in the simulations, the last one taking into account empirical corrections for dispersive forces (PBE+TS) following the scheme proposed by Tkatchenko and Scheffler. Molecular calculations were carried out using the Gaussian09 program with the hybrid exchange-correlation functional B3LYP and the 6-311+G(d,p) basis set. The molecules were simulated in the gaseous phase and solvated in water within the Polarizable Continuum Model (PCM). Crystalline (optimized unit cells) and molecular (smallest energy conformations) structures obtained from the calculations were compared with experimental results and other theoretical computations. For the L-Asp anhydrous crystal, the optical and vibrational infrared (IR) and Raman spectra were contrasted with experimental measurements, and its band structure suggests it is a semiconductor. For the monohydrated L-Asp crystal, an indirect gap 0,1 eV larger than the gap of the anhydrous crystal is caused due to the role of water in its electronic structure. The DL-Asp anhydrous crystal, on the other hand, exhibits a wide direct band gap, which suggests possible optoelectronic uses. Effective masses obtained for all crystals exhibit an anisotropy which must affect their electronic transport properties, with electric conduction more likely along a direction parallel to the molecular planes for the L-Asp anhydrous system. The analysis of the density of electronic states revealed the contributions per atom and per functional group to the valence and conduction band states. A nice agreement was found between the theoretical IR and Raman spectra and the experimental data for the L-Asp anhydrous crystal, allowing for an adequate interpretation of the normal modes involved in each spectral feature.