The COVID-19 pandemic has heralded a breakthrough in the treatment and prevention of viral diseases. Nucleic acid-based vaccines require stringent cold storage due to their susceptibility to enzymatic denaturation and other forms of damage which hinder their ability to function. Due to this fragility, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require cold storage of –20 °C and –80 °C respectively, to comply with OSHA and CDC standards. Therefore, RNA-based vaccines present logistical challenges due to their cold-chain requirements, rendering distribution nearly impossible to countries that lack facilities and infrastructure necessary for transport and storage. A DES is a mixture of a high melting organic salt which acts as a hydrogen bond acceptor and a non-ionic compound which acts as a hydrogen bond donor. When mixed, the DES has significantly lower melting temperature than the discrete parent molecules. Previous studies involving deep eutectic solvents have shown potential in various applications ranging from redox flow batteries, petrochemical desulfurization, carbon dioxide capture, to plastic polymer glycolysis. DESs are environmentally friendly, inexpensive to produce, and have been shown to be compatible solvents of biomolecules—these properties make them promising candidates for preservation of RNA-based vaccines. In this work we have used <i>ab initio</i> quantum chemistry methods to examine a model DES and its interaction with nucleic acid bases. Trehaline is composed of a choline chloride as a hydrogen bond acceptor and trehalose as a hydrogen bond donor at a 1:1 molar ratio. Trehalose was chosen as a component because it is a nontoxic sugar that has been shown to solvate DNA. We will examine the geometry and charge distribution of the resulting solvent complex and determine the strength of their interaction by analyzing key thermodynamic properties.

Quantum chemical insight into interactions of deep eutectic solvents with nucleic acids

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