Advanced Corrections of Hydrogen Bonding and Dispersion for Semiempirical Quantum Mechanical Methods

Semiempirical quantum mechanical methods with corrections for noncovalent interactions, namely dispersion and hydrogen bonds, reach an accuracy comparable to much more expensive methods while being applicable to very large systems (up to 10 000 atoms). These corrections have been successfully applied in computer-assisted drug design, where they significantly improve the correlation with the experimental data. Despite these successes, there are still several unresolved issues that limit the applicability of these methods. We introduce a new generation of both hydrogen-bonding and dispersion corrections that address these problems, make the method more robust, and improve its accuracy. The hydrogen-bonding correction has been completely redesigned and for the first time can be used for geometry optimization and molecular-dynamics simulations without any limitations, as it and its derivatives have a smooth potential energy surface. The form of this correction is simpler than its predecessors, while the accuracy has been improved. For the dispersion correction, we adopt the latest developments in DFT-D, using the D3 formalism by Grimme. The new corrections have been parametrized on a large set of benchmark data including nonequilibrium geometries, the S66x8 data set. As a result, the newly developed D3H4 correction can accurately describe a wider range of interactions. We have parametrized this correction for the PM6, RM1, OM3, PM3, AM1, and SCC-DFTB methods.