The nature of the interaction in the indole...imidazole complex

What is it about?

Many important biological processes depend on the relative structure and interactions of molecules. Trying to understand this at a fundamental level means using small model systems - such as the indole...imidazole complex studied here. This investigation uses quantum mechanical calculations to interpret the results of an experiment, revealing the structure of the complex and details on the forces holding it together.

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Why is it important?

The type of interaction (called a special mixed interaction) in this complex appears to be important in a number of protein/pharmaceutical processes. It is also a hard problem for both theory and experiment. This paper lays the groundwork for how theory and experiment can come together to properly describe this class of interaction.