CCL: LJ parameters for Gromacs/Orca QM/MM calculation



Hello,

I am learning how to perform QM/MM calculations using Gromacs and Orca. I have already managed to run a calculation from a simple tutorial, but I have some doubts (not all of them specific to the Gromacs/Orca duo), and I hope someone more knowledgeable than I can help me.

1) As far as I can tell, Orca only takes vdW interactions into account (via LJ parameters of the force fields)  if a full QM/MM optimization is performed for each MD step - the LJ parameter files only appear if the option for a full geometry otimization of the QM part is set. Is there any way to make Orca take the LJ parameters into account if a single-point calculation is performed?

2) If there is no way to do it just by setting flags in Gromacs, is there some way to go around this? Some effective way of making he QM and MM regions be taken into account when calculating the total energy of the QM + MM system?

3) Now a more fundamental question, not exactly related to Gromacs or Orca, but to QM/MM itself. In which situations (in a general way) would the neglect of LJ interactions between the two sub-regions be acceptable, and which would be not?

Best regards,

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Dr. Marcos Verissimo Alves
Prof. Adjunto II, Curso de Física Computacional
Instituto de Ciências Exatas
Universidade Federal Fluminense
Volta Redonda - RJ, Brasil