Interaction between B-Doped C60 Fullerene and Glycine Amino Acid from First-Principles Simulation

The possibility of formation of complexes between glycine and boron doped C60 (C59B) fullerene is investigated and compared with that of C60 fullerene by using the density functional theory calculations. It has been found that the binding of glycine to C59B generated the most stable complexes via its carbonyl oxygen active site, with a binding energy of -37.89 kcal/mol, while the glycine molecule prefers to bind to the pure C60 cage via its amino nitrogen active site, consistent with the recent experimental and theoretical studies. We have also tested the stability of the most stable Gly-C59B complex with ab initio molecular dynamics simulation, carried out at room temperature. These indicate that the B-doped C60 fullerenes seem to be more suitable materials for bindings to proteins than pure C60 fullerenes.