| Thermodynamic and structural properties computed via simulations of pure liquids and dilute solutions are routinely used as a metric of accuracy for condensed-phase force fields and in the development and testing of new methodology. Additionally, reliable modeling of solvent systems is critical to investigations of physical phenomena, such as the elucidation of solvent effects on chemical equilibria and reaction rates. This dissertation highlights a series of studies that span these topics.;The Lennard-Jones 12-6 functional form, often invoked to model van der Waals interactions, has been argued to be too repulsive at short internuclear separations. Monte Carlo simulations of organic liquids at various temperatures and pressures show that this function, in conjunction with OPLS parameters, is capable of reproducing experimental densities.;In order to address potential cumulative deviations of computed properties and conformational differences between the gas phase and pure liquids, Monte Carlo simulations have been carried out for the homologous n-alkane series C4H10-C12H26 using the OPLS-AA force field. Favorable structural motifs of longer alkanes were also investigated to study self solvation in the gas phase.;Next, an overview of the computation of free energy changes in solution using perturbation theory, overlap sampling, and related approximate methods is presented. Results are provided for free energies of hydration of OPLS-AA substituted benzenes in TIP4P water. For comparable amounts of computer time, the double-wide and overlap sampling methods yield very similar results.;QM/MM simulations of the Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with 1,4-naphthoquinone, methyl vinyl ketone, and acrylonitrile have been carried out at the water-vacuum interface and in the gas phase. The relative free energies of activation and transition structure geometries at the interface were intermediate between those calculated in the gas phase and in bulk water, consistent with estimated experimental rate constants. Energy pair distributions reveal a loss of slightly favorable solute-solvent pair contacts but retention of stronger interactions upon transition from bulk to surface hydration. These strong interactions cause the methyl vinyl ketone transition structure to preferentially orient its carbonyl toward the surface, while the other transition structures prefer orientations parallel to the surface. |
