Luteolin organic solvent interactions. A molecular dynamics simulation analysis

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed on Luteolin (Lut) dissolved in various solvents (methanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanol, dimethylsulfoxide, acetone and hexane) with the purpose to characterize the local structure around the hydroxyl (OH)1 and carbonyl (C  O) moieties and to correlate the findings with the experimental vibrational spectroscopy and NMR results. The local structure is analyzed through the calculation of the radial distribution functions (RDF), the nearest neighbor radial and orientation distribution functions as well as the distribution of the dihedral angle involving the CO and the adjacent (OH)1 atoms. Our results show that the CO moiety is interacting in a similar way with the protic solvents while the intra molecular hydrogen bond between this moiety and the (OH)1 hydroxyl group is weakened in favor of the intermolecular hydrogen bond between the (OH)1 and the protic and aprotic solvents.