Searching for Computational Strategies to Accurately Predict pKas of Large Phenolic Derivatives

Twenty-two reaction schemes have been tested, within the cluster-continuum model including up to seven explicit water molecules. They have been used in conjunction with nine different methods, within the density functional theory and with second-order Møller-Plesset. The quality of the pKa predictions was found to be strongly dependent on the chosen scheme, while only moderately influenced by the method of calculation. We recommend the E1 reaction scheme [HA + OH(-) (3H2O) ↔ A(-) (H2O) + 3H2O], since it yields mean unsigned errors (MUE) lower than 1 unit of pKa for most of the tested functionals. The best pKa values obtained from this reaction scheme are those involving calculations with PBE0 (MUE = 0.77), TPSS (MUE = 0.82), BHandHLYP (MUE = 0.82), and B3LYP (MUE = 0.86) functionals. This scheme has the additional advantage, compared to the proton exchange method, which also gives very small values of MUE, of being experiment independent. It should be kept in mind, however, that these recommendations are valid within the cluster-continuum model, using the polarizable continuum model in conjunction with the united atom Hartree-Fock cavity and the strategy based on thermodynamic cycles. Changes in any of these aspects of the used methodology may lead to different outcomes.