CCL: Force field calculations-getting started



Hello fellow CCL’ers,

 

  I find myself increasingly in need of running some force field calculations (e.g. OPLS) for organic/biological molecules, and am looking for the best way to get started. I come from an electronic structure background where making an input file is pretty straight-forward. Choose atomic coordinates (xyz), basis set, methodology, and run the calculation.

 

  Setting up an input file for the various molecular mechanics methods however seems more complicated. You can start with the xyz atomic coordinates, but you also have to worry about various atom types for the same element, atom connectivity, etc.

 

Can anyone suggest some software/website/tutorial that would help in setting up an input file?

 

    I’m leaning towards using DL_POLY (I have experience with this code for ‘simpler’ systems) with the OPLS force field, but this isn’t set in stone. OPLS seems to be widely used for the types of molecules I’m interested in (organics).

 

Thank you, 

 

N. Aaron Deskins

Assistant Professor

Chemical Engineering Department

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester, MA

http://users.wpi.edu/~nadeskins