Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out on a system of caffeine interacting with the sugar alcohol sorbitol. The system examined had a caffeine concentration 0.083 m and a sugar concentration 1.08 m. The trajectories of all molecules in the system were collected over a period of 80 ns and analyzed to determine whether there is any tendency for sorbitol to bind to caffeine, and if so, by what mechanism. The results show that the sorbitol molecules have an affinity for the caffeine molecules and that the binding occurred by the interaction of the aliphatic hydrophobic protons of the sugar with the caffeine face. This intermolecular association via face-to-face stacking, as suggested by simulation studies, is similar to that found for sucrose and for D-glucose, which overwhelmingly exists in the pyranose ring chair form in aqueous solution, as well as for caffeine-caffeine association. The sorbitol molecules, however, exist as relatively extended chains and are, therefore, topologically quite different from the sugars sucrose and glucose. The comparison of the average conformation of sorbitol molecules bound to caffeine with that of molecules in the free state shows a substantial similarity.

中文翻译：

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山梨糖醇与咖啡因在水溶液中的相互作用。

对咖啡因与糖醇山梨糖醇相互作用的系统进行了分子动力学模拟。检查的系统具有 0.083 m 的咖啡因浓度和 1.08 m 的糖浓度。在 80 ns 的时间内收集系统中所有分子的轨迹并进行分析以确定山梨糖醇是否有任何与咖啡因结合的趋势，如果有，通过什么机制。结果表明山梨糖醇分子对咖啡因分子具有亲和力，并且通过糖的脂肪族疏水质子与咖啡因面的相互作用发生结合。模拟研究表明，这种通过面对面堆积的分子间关联类似于蔗糖和 D-葡萄糖的发现，后者在水溶液中绝大多数以吡喃糖环椅形式存在，以及咖啡因 - 咖啡因协会。然而，山梨糖醇分子作为相对延伸的链存在，因此在拓扑结构上与蔗糖和葡萄糖完全不同。与咖啡因结合的山梨糖醇分子的平均构象与游离状态的分子的平均构象的比较显示出很大的相似性。