DFT calculation of pKa’s for dimethoxypyrimidinylsalicylic based herbicides

Dimethoxypyrimidinylsalicylic derived compounds show potent herbicidal activity as a result of the inhibition of acetohydroxyacid synthase, the first common enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway of the branched-chain aminoacids (valine, leucine and isoleucine) in plants, bacteria and fungi. Despite its practical importance, this family of compounds have been poorly characterized from a physico-chemical point of view. Thus for instance, their pKa’s have not been reported earlier neither experimentally nor theoretically. In this study, the acid-dissociation constants of 39 dimethoxypyrimidinylsalicylic derived herbicides are calculated by DFT methods at B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level of theory. The calculated values are validated by two checking tests based on the Hammett equation.