Theoretical Modeling of Structure-Toxicity Relationship of Cyanides

TL;DR

This paper develops a quantum-chemical model to predict cyanide toxicity based on molecular descriptors, revealing that certain electronic properties correlate well with toxicity levels and suggesting revisions for some experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical LD50(omega) function linking electronic descriptors to cyanide toxicity, advancing predictive modeling in chemical safety assessment.

Findings

LD50(omega) correlates strongly with toxicity

EA parameter roughly predicts LD50 values

Some experimental LD50 data may be inaccurate

Abstract

The global descriptors of chemical activity:ionization potential IP, electron affinity EA, chemical potential mu, absolute electronegativity chi, molecular hardness eta and softness S,electrophilicity index omega for cyanides X(CN)k with X=H, Na, K, Ag, Cu, Ca, Hg, Cd, Zn in the gas phase and water medium have been determined by taking advantage of the quantum-chemical computations.To this aim, the HOMO and LUMO energy levels were calculated using DFT B3LYP method and QZVP (Valence Quadruple-Zeta Polarization) basis set, which enables precise calculations for hydrogen cyanide and its salts containing both light (H, Na, Ca) and heavy (K, Ag, Cu, Cd, Hg, Zn) atoms.The results obtained indicate that while the EA-parameter roughly determines the LD50 values for the cyanides considered, the omega-descriptor is related rather to the product of cyanide LD50 and hydrolysis n-degree.Hence,the theoretical LD50CN(omega) function proposed is interconnected with the nLD50 collective variable, whereas LD50(EA)directly approximates LD50 indicating that the toxicity of cyanides decreases with increasing EA, omega-values.The calculations carried out suggest that some of the LD50(Exp)experimentally determined are incorrect (AgCN) or inaccurate (Cd(CN)2) and require revision.Comparison of the theoretically estimated LD50(omega) with NOAEL toxicity parameters indicates that they are well correlated in contrast to LD50(EA) and LD50(Exp), exhibiting lower and marginal degrees of correlation, respectively.