Molecular similarity from atomic electrostatic multipole comparisons. Application to anti-HIV drugs

A procedure is presented for the rapid calculation of the similarity between a pair of molecules based on atomic electrostatic multipole comparison. The multipoles are derived from semiempirical SCF wave functions, and the results obtained compare favorably with ab initio results. The method is illustrated by correlating the similarity and anti-HIV-1 activity of a series of azo compounds. Some generalizations are presented on the structure-activity relationships which are based on the atomic multipole distribution in the azo compounds.