The comparison of semiempirical and ab initio molecular modeling methods in activity and property evaluation of selected antimicrobial sulfonamides

A group of sulfonamides exhibiting antimicrobial activity was analyzed with the application of quantitative structure–activity/property relationships method. The purpose of this study was to show the common and differentiating characteristics of the analyzed chemical structures alike physicochemically as well as pharmacologically based on the quantum-chemical calculations both in vacuo and in the aquatic environment together with their microbiological activity and chromatographic retention data. The semiempirical and ab initio level of in silico molecular modeling was performed for calculations of statistically significant molecular descriptors to compare obtained results. The relationship between the structure and biological activity and physicochemical parameters data was able to class and describe analyzed molecules and the applied chemometric approaches (principal component analysis, factor analysis, and multiple regression analysis) revealed the influential features of the tested structures responsible for the antimicrobial activity.