Chemical transferability of functional groups follows from the nearsightedness of electronic matter.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29078266.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.1615053114 and PMC identifier 5676871.
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Abstract
We establish the physical origins of chemical transferability from the perspective of the nearsightedness of electronic matter. To do this, we explicitly evaluate the response of electron density to a change in the system, at constant chemical potential, by computing the softness kernel, [Formula: see text] The softness kernel is nearsighted, indicating that under constant-chemical-potential conditions like dilute solutions changing the composition of the molecule at [Formula: see text] has only local effects and does not have any significant impact on the reactivity at positions [Formula: see text] far away from point [Formula: see text] This locality principle elucidates the transferability of functional groups in chemistry.