Let’s not forget tautomers.
Open accessAbstract
A compound exhibits tautomerism if it can be represented by two structures that are related by an intramolecular movement of hydrogen from one atom to another. The different tautomers of a molecule usually have different molecular fingerprints, hydrophobicities and pKa's as well as different 3D shape and electrostatic properties; additionally, proteins frequently preferentially bind a tautomer that is present in low abundance in water. As a result, the proper treatment of molecules that can tautomerize, approximately 25% of a database, is a challenge for every aspect of computer-aided molecular design. Library design that focuses on molecular similarity or diversity might inadvertently include similar molecules that happen to be encoded as different tautomers. Physical property measurements might not establish the properties of individual tautomers with the result that algorithms based on these measurements may be less accurate for molecules that can tautomerize-this problem influences the accuracy of filtering for library design and also traditional QSAR. Any 2D or 3D QSAR analysis must involve the decision of if or how to adjust the observed Ki or IC50 for the tautomerization equilibria. QSARs and recursive partitioning methods also involve the decision as to which tautomer(s) to use to calculate the molecular descriptors. Docking virtual screening must involve the decision as to which tautomers to include in the docking and how to account for tautomerization in the scoring. All of these decisions are more difficult because there is no extensive database of measured tautomeric ratios in both water and non-aqueous solvents and there is no consensus as to the best computational method to calculate tautomeric ratios in different environments.
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Correct assignment of protein and ligand protonation/tautomeric states with respect to experimental pH, Asn/Gln/His flips, and defined stereocenters is crucial and requires careful inspection of structures.
“The correct assignment of both protein and ligand protonation/tautomeric states with respect to the experimental pH, Asn/Gln/His flips, and defined stereocenters of the compounds are crucial, requiring a careful inspection of the structures (Kalliokoski et al., 2009; Martin, 2009; Petukh et al., 2013; Sastry et al., 2013).”
From Empirical scoring functions for structure-based virtual screening: applications, critical aspects, and challenges (2018) · cites this paper as Martin, 2009
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- Authors
- Martin, Y. C.
- Corresponding author
- Martin, Yvonne Connolly
- Venue
- Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design
- Published
- 2009-10
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 693-704
- ISSN
- 0920-654X (ISSN-L)
- 1573-4951
- PMC
- PMC2776169
- OpenAlex
- W2050226017
- Cited by
- 237
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 11.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computational Theory and Mathematics › Computational Drug Discovery Methods
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Advanced Chemical Physics Studies
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Chemistry and Stereochemistry Studies
- Keywords
- tautomerism, QSAR, molecular descriptors, virtual screening, molecular docking, library design, protein-ligand binding affinity
- MeSH terms
- Drug Design, Molecular Structure, Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship
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