Theoretical design of dendrimeric fractal patterns for the encapsulation of a family of drugs: salicylanilides

Four dendrimeric fragments (FPs) were designed to encapsulate a family of drugs known as salicylanilides (importantly acaricides/anthelminthics), mainly by H-bonding. The experimental system: PAMAM-DBNP (2,6-dibromo-4-nitrophenol) was also calculated as a reference. The efficiency of encapsulation is related to the presence of functional groups like amide and alcohol, the flexibility of the aliphatic chains, and efficient pre-organization before the encapsulation. All the geometry optimizations were carried out at DFT/LAV3P^* level of theory. Two hybrid functionals were tested: B3LYP and BHandHLYP. The last one shows improved performance in describing close contacts as well as better agreement with experimental observations for the complex PAMAM-BDNP.