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Title: Discovering chemistry with an ab initio nanoreactor

Abstract

Chemical understanding is driven by the experimental discovery of new compounds and reactivity, and is supported by theory and computation that provides detailed physical insight. While theoretical and computational studies have generally focused on specific processes or mechanistic hypotheses, recent methodological and computational advances harken the advent of their principal role in discovery. Here we report the development and application of the ab initio nanoreactor – a highly accelerated, first-principles molecular dynamics simulation of chemical reactions that discovers new molecules and mechanisms without preordained reaction coordinates or elementary steps. Using the nanoreactor we show new pathways for glycine synthesis from primitive compounds proposed to exist on the early Earth, providing new insight into the classic Urey-Miller experiment. Ultimately, these results highlight the emergence of theoretical and computational chemistry as a tool for discovery in addition to its traditional role of interpreting experimental findings.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [2];  [3]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). PULSE Inst.; Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
  2. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
  3. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). PULSE Inst.; Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry; SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF); National Institutes of Health (NIH)
OSTI Identifier:
1293892
Grant/Contract Number:  
OCI-1047577; U54 GM072970
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nature Chemistry
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 6; Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 1755-4330
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; 97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING; Chemical physics; Reaction kinetics and dynamics; Chemical origin of life; Reaction mechanisms

Citation Formats

Wang, Lee-Ping, Titov, Alexey, McGibbon, Robert, Liu, Fang, Pande, Vijay S., and Martínez, Todd J. Discovering chemistry with an ab initio nanoreactor. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1038/nchem.2099.
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Wang, Lee-Ping, Titov, Alexey, McGibbon, Robert, Liu, Fang, Pande, Vijay S., & Martínez, Todd J. Discovering chemistry with an ab initio nanoreactor. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2099
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Wang, Lee-Ping, Titov, Alexey, McGibbon, Robert, Liu, Fang, Pande, Vijay S., and Martínez, Todd J. Sun . "Discovering chemistry with an ab initio nanoreactor". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2099. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1293892.
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@article{osti_1293892,
title = {Discovering chemistry with an ab initio nanoreactor},
author = {Wang, Lee-Ping and Titov, Alexey and McGibbon, Robert and Liu, Fang and Pande, Vijay S. and Martínez, Todd J.},
abstractNote = {Chemical understanding is driven by the experimental discovery of new compounds and reactivity, and is supported by theory and computation that provides detailed physical insight. While theoretical and computational studies have generally focused on specific processes or mechanistic hypotheses, recent methodological and computational advances harken the advent of their principal role in discovery. Here we report the development and application of the ab initio nanoreactor – a highly accelerated, first-principles molecular dynamics simulation of chemical reactions that discovers new molecules and mechanisms without preordained reaction coordinates or elementary steps. Using the nanoreactor we show new pathways for glycine synthesis from primitive compounds proposed to exist on the early Earth, providing new insight into the classic Urey-Miller experiment. Ultimately, these results highlight the emergence of theoretical and computational chemistry as a tool for discovery in addition to its traditional role of interpreting experimental findings.},
doi = {10.1038/nchem.2099},
journal = {Nature Chemistry},
number = 12,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Nov 02 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Sun Nov 02 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2099
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