[The hydration of acetylcholine and its conformation in solution]. / Recherches sur les modalités d'hydratation et la conformation en solution de l'acétylcholine

Quantum-mechanical computations performed by the ab initio self-consistent field molecular orbital method have been used for the determination of the principal hydration sites of acetylcholine in its gauche et trans conformations. The hydration destabilizes the gauche form with respect to the trans one by about 2 kcal/mole. Taking into account, however, that the gauche form is 3 kcal/mole intrinsically more stable, this form still remains the most stable one of acetylcholine in solution.