[en] Dynamic protonation equilibria in water of one 4-methylimidazole molecule as well as for pairs and groups consisting of 4-methylimidazole, acetic acid and bridging water molecules are studied using Q-HOP molecular dynamics simulation. We find a qualitatively different protonation behavior of 4-methylimidazole compared to that of acetic acid. On one hand, deprotonoted, neutral 4-methylimidazole cannot as easily attract a freely diffusing extra proton from solution. Once the proton is bound however, it remains tightly bound on a time scale of tens of nanoseconds. In a linear chain composed of acetic acid, a separating water molecule and 4-methylimidazole, an excess proton is equally shared between 4-methylimidozole and water. When a water molecule is linearly placed between two acetic acid molecules, the excess proton is always found on the central water. On the other hand, an excess proton in a 4-methylimidazole-water-4-methylimidozole chain is always localized on one of the two 4-methylimidozoles. These findings are of interest to the discussion of proton transfer along chains of amino acids and water molecules in biomolecules.
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