End-to-end differentiable molecular mechanics force field construction

Yuanqing Wang, Josh Fass, and John D. Chodera
Chemical Science 13:12016, 2022 [DOI] [arXiv] [pytorch code] [JAX code]

Molecular mechanics force fields have been a workhorse for computational chemistry and drug discovery. Here, we propose a new approach to force field parameterization in which graph convolutional networks are used to perceive chemical environments and assign molecular mechanics (MM) force field parameters. The entire process of chemical perception and parameter assignment is differentiable end-to-end with respect to model parameters, allowing new force fields to be easily constructed from MM or QM force fields, extended, and applied to arbitrary biomolecules.

The Open Force Field Evaluator: An automated, efficient, and scalable framework for the estimation of physical properties from molecular simulation

Simon Boothroyd, Lee-Ping Wang, David L. Mobley, John D. Chodera, and Michael R. Shirts

Preprint ahead of submission: [ChemRxiv]

We describe a new software framework for automated evaluation of physical properties for the benchmarking and optimization of small molecule force fields according to best practices.

Bayesian inference-driven model parameterization and model selection for 2CLJQ fluid models

Owen C Madin, Simon Boothroyd, Richard A Messerly, John D Chodera, Josh Fass, and Michael R Shirts
Preprint ahead of publication: [arXiv]

Here, we show how Bayesian inference can be used to automatically perform model selection and fit parameters for a molecular mechanics force field.

Development and benchmarking of Open Force Field v1.0.0, the Parsley small molecule force field

Yudong Qiu, Daniel Smith, Simon Boothroyd, Hyesu Jang, Jeffrey Wagner, Caitlin C Bannan, Trevor Gokey, Victoria T Lim, Chaya Stern, Andrea Rizzi, Xavier Lucas, Bryon Tjanaka, Michael R Shirts, Michael Gilson, John D. Chodera, Christopher I Bayly, David Mobley, Lee-Ping Wang
Preprint ahead of publication: [chemRxiv] [force fields] [Open Force Field Initiative]

We present a new, modern small molecule force field for molecular design from the Open Force Field Initiative, a large industry-academic collaboration that focuses on open science, open data, and modern open source infrastructure.