Enter the Gibbs free energy (J) and the number of non-hydrogen atoms into the calculator to determine the Ligand Efficiency. 

Ligand Efficiency Formula

The following formula is used to calculate the Ligand Efficiency. 

EL = G / N 

  • Where EL is the Ligand Efficiency
  • G is the Gibbs free energy (J) 
  • N is the number of non-hydrogen atoms 

How to Calculate Ligand Efficiency?

The following two example problems outline how to calculate the Ligand Efficiency.

Example Problem #1:

  1. First, determine the Gibbs free energy (J). In this example, the Gibbs free energy (J) is given as 50.
  2. Next, determine the number of non-hydrogen atoms. For this problem, the number of non-hydrogen atoms is given as 144.
  3. Finally, calculate the Ligand Efficiency using the equation above: 

EL = G / N 

Inserting the values from above and solving the equation: 

EL = 50 / 144  = .347

Example Problem #2: 

Using the same process as above, first define the variables required by the formula. In this case, these values are:

Gibbs free energy (J) = 100

number of non-hydrogen atoms = 5055

Entering these values yields:

EL = 100 / 5055  = .0197