Structural characterization of kaempferol: a spectroscopic and computational study

Calculations based on the density functional theory, with the B3LYP functional and the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set, were performed with the aim of confirming the molecular structure and spectroscopic characteristics of kaempferol, a naturally occurring flavonoid molecule. The electronic structure of kaempferol was examined using NBO analysis. The assigning of the experimentally obtained IR and Raman spectra was performed after the best-fit-based comparison with theoretical spectra. The C-13 and H-1 NMR experimental spectra were related to the theoretically obtained values of the chemical shifts determined by the GIAO method. The correlation coefficient and the average absolute error values proved B3LYP-D3 to be an adequate method in describing the NMR parameters of kaempferol. Molecular docking analysis was carried out in order to identify the potency of inhibition of the title molecule against human procalcitonin. The inhibition activity was obtained for 10 conformations of ligand inside the protein.