A DFT analysis of the molecular structures and vibrational spectra of diphenylsulfone and 4,4'-Sulfonyldianiline (Dapsone)

We have performed density functional calculations with the B3LYP functional and a 6-311G** basis set to obtain the vibrational spectra in harmonic approximation of the anti-leprosy drug Dapsone and the parent compound diphenylsulfone. Although the chemical difference between the two molecules is not that pronounced (Dapsone has amino groups in the para positions in the phenyl rings), Dapsone is an active drug, while to our knowledge diphenylsulfone shows no medical activity. We compared the theoretical results to experimental vibrational spectra found in the literature. With the help of the program GAUSSVIEW we were able to assign the experimentally found spectral lines to specific atomic motions. The remarkable difference between the two molecules, regarding their structural behavior, is that the drug Dapsone has a more flexible structure of the phenyl ring than the parent molecule has. This might contribute to a greater ability of the drug to fit into receptor sites in a cell membrane although one has to be well aware that this plays most propably only a minor role in the drug activity of Dapsone.