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Ammonium and carboxylic moieties play a central role in proton-mediated processes of molecular recognition, charge transfer or chemical change in (bio)materials. Whereas both chemical groups constitute acid–base pairs in organic salt-bridge structures, they may as well host excess protons in acidic environments. The binding of excess protons often precedes proton transfer reactions and it is therefore of fundamental interest, though challenging from a quantum chemical perspective. As a benchmark for this process, we investigate proton storage in the amphoteric compound 5-aminovaleric acid (AV), within an intramolecular proton bond shared by its primary amine and carboxylic acid terminal groups. Infrared ion spectroscopy is combined with ab initio Molecular Dynamics (AIMD) calculations to expose and rationalize the spectral signatures of protonated AV and its deuterated isotopologues. The dynamic character of the proton bond confers a fluxional structure to the molecular framework, leading to wide-ranging bands in the vibrational spectrum. These features are reproduced with remarkable accuracy by AIMD computations, which serves to lay out microscopic insights into the excess proton binding scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cisplatin, (NH3)2PtCl2, has been known as a successful metal-based anticancer drug for more than half a century. Its analogue, Argplatin, arginine-linked cisplatin, (Arg)PtCl2, is being investigated because it exhibits reactivity towards DNA and RNA that differs from that of cisplatin. In order to understand the basis for its altered reactivity, the deprotonated and sodium cationized forms of Argplatin, [(Arg-H)PtCl2]− and [(Arg)PtCl2 + Na]+, are examined by infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) action spectroscopy in the IR fingerprint and hydrogen-stretching regions. Complementary electronic structure calculations are performed using density functional theory approaches to characterize the stable structures of these complexes and to predict their infrared spectra. Comparison of the theoretical IR spectra predicted for various stable conformations of these Argplatin complexes to their measured IRMPD spectra enables determination of the binding mode(s) of Arg to the Pt metal center to be identified. Arginine is found to bind to Pt in a bidentate fashion to the backbone amino nitrogen and carboxylate oxygen atoms in both the [(Arg-H)PtCl2]− and [(Arg)PtCl2 + Na]+ complexes, the NO− binding mode. The neutral side chain of Arg also interacts with the Pt center to achieve additional stabilization in the [(Arg-H)PtCl2]− complex. In contrast, Na+ binds to both chlorido ligands in the [(Arg)PtCl2 + Na]+ complex and the protonated side chain of Arg is stabilized via hydrogen-bonding interactions with the carboxylate moiety. These findings are consistent with condensed-phase results, indicating that the NO− binding mode of arginine to Pt is preserved in the electrospray ionization process even under variable pH and ionic strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first rotationally resolved spectra of adamantane (C10H16) applying gas-phase Fourier transform infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy. High-resolution IR spectra are recorded in the 33-4500 cm-1range using as source of IR radiation both synchrotron radiation (at the AILES beamline of the SOLEIL synchrotron) as well as a classical globar. Adamantane is a spherical top molecule with tetrahedral symmetry (Td point group) and has no permanent dipole moment in its vibronic ground state. Of the 72 fundamental vibrational modes in adamantane, only 11 are IR active. Here we present rotationally resolved spectra for seven of them: ν30, ν28, ν27, ν26, ν25, ν24, and ν23. The typical rotational structure of spherical tops is observed and analyzed using the STDS software developed in the Dijon group, which provides the first accurate energy levels and rotational constants for seven fundamental modes. Rotational levels with quantum numbers as high as J = 107 have been identified and included in the fit leading to a typical standard deviation of about 10-3 cm-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gas-phase conformations of the protonated forms of thymidine-5′-monophosphate and uridine-5′-monophosphate, [pdThd+H]+ and [pUrd+H]+, are investigated by infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) action spectroscopy and electronic structure calculations. The IRMPD action spectra of [pdThd+H]+ and [pUrd+H]+ are measured over the IR fingerprint and hydrogen-stretching regions using the FELIX free electron laser and an OPO/OPA laser system. Low-energy conformations of [pdThd+H]+ and [pUrd+H]+ and their relative stabilities are computed at the MP2(full)/6-311+G(2d,2p)//B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) and B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,2p)//B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) levels of theory. Comparisons of the measured IRMPD action spectra and B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) linear IR spectra computed for the low-energy conformers indicate that the dominant conformers of [pdThd+H]+ and [pUrd+H]+ populated in the experiments are protonated at the phosphate oxo oxygen atom, with a syn nucleobase orientation that is stabilized by strong P=OH+…O2 and P–OH…O4′ hydrogen-bonding interactions, and C2′-endo sugar puckering. Minor abundance of conformers protonated at the O2 carbonyl of the nucleobase residue may also contribute for [pdThd+H]+, but do not appear to be important for [pUrd+H]+. Comparisons to previous IRMPD spectroscopy investigations of the protonated forms of thymidine and uridine, [dThd+H]+ and [Urd+H]+, and the deprotonated forms of pdThd and pUrd, [pdThd−H]− and [pUrd−H]−, provide insight into the effects of the phosphate moiety and protonation on the conformational features of the nucleobase and sugar moieties. Most interestingly, the thymine and uracil nucleobases remain in their canonical forms for [pdThd+H]+ and [pUrd+H]+, unlike [dThd+H]+ and [Urd+H]+, where protonation occurs on the nucleobases and induces tautomerization of the thymine and uracil residues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uridine (Urd) is one of the naturally occurring pyrimidine nucleosides of RNA. 2′-Deoxyuridine (dUrd) is a naturally occurring modified form of Urd, but is not one of the canonical DNA nucleosides. In order to understand the effects of sodium cationization on the conformations and energetics of Urd and dUrd, infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) action spectroscopy experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations are performed. By comparing the calculated IR spectra of [Urd+Na]+ and [dUrd+Na]+ with the measured IRMPD spectra, the stable low-energy conformers populated in the experiments are determined. Anti oriented bidentate O2 and O2′ binding conformers of [Urd+Na]+ are the dominant conformers populated in the experiments, whereas syn oriented tridentate O2, O4′, and O5′ binding conformers of [dUrd+Na]+ are dominantly populated in the experiments. The 2′-hydroxyl substituent of Urd stabilizes the anti oriented O2 binding conformers of [Urd+Na]+. Significant differences between the measured IRMPD and calculated IR spectra for complexes of [Urd+Na]+ and [dUrd+Na]+ involving minor tautomeric forms of the nucleobase make it obvious that none are populated in the experiments. Survival yield analyses based on energy-resolved collision-induced dissociation (ER-CID) experiments suggest that the relative stabilities of protonated and sodium cationized Urd and dUrd follow the order: [dUrd+H]+ ＜ [Urd+H]+ ＜ [dUrd+Na]+ ＜ [Urd+Na]+. The 2′-deoxy modification is found to weaken the glycosidic bond of dUrd versus that of Urd for the sodium cationized uridine nucleosides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) action spectra of the protonated forms of 2′-deoxyguanosine-5′-monophosphate and guanosine-5′-monophosphate, [pdGuo+H]+ and [pGuo+H]+, are measured over the IR fingerprint and hydrogen-stretching regions using the FELIX free electron laser and an OPO/OPA laser system. Electronic structure calculations are performed to generate low-energy conformations of [pdGuo+H]+ and [pGuo+H]+ and determine their relative stabilities at the B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,2p)//B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) and MP2(full)/6-311+G(2d,2p)//B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) levels of theory. Comparative analyses of the measured IRMPD action spectra and B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) linear IR spectra computed for the low-energy conformers are performed to determine the most favorable site of protonation and the conformers present in the experiments. These comparisons and the computed energetics find that N7 protonation is considerably preferred over O6 and N3, and the N7 protonated ground-state conformers of [pdGuo+H]+ and [pGuo+H]+ are populated in the experiments. The 2′-hydroxyl substituent does not significantly impact the stable low-energy conformers of [pdGuo+H]+vs. those of [pGuo+H]+. The effect of the 2′-hydroxyl substituent is primarily reflected in the relative intensities of the measured IRMPD bands, as the IRMPD profiles of [pdGuo+H]+ and [pGuo+H]+ are quite similar. Comparisons to previous IRMPD spectroscopy investigations of the protonated forms of the guanine nucleosides, [dGuo+H]+ and [Guo+H]+, and deprotonated forms of the guanine nucleotides, [pdGuo–H]− and [pGuo–H]−, provide insight into the effects of the phosphate moiety and protonation on the conformational features of the nucleobase and sugar moieties. Protonation is found to induce base rotation of the guanine residue to an anti orientation vs. the syn orientation found for the deprotonated forms of the guanine nucleotides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gas-phase conformations of protonated uridine, [Urd+H]+, and its modified form, protonated 2′-deoxyuridine, [dUrd+H]+, generated by electrospray ionization are investigated using infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) action spectroscopy techniques. IRMPD action spectra of [Urd+H]+ and [dUrd+H]+ are measured over the IR fingerprint and hydrogen-stretching regions. [Urd+H]+ and [dUrd+H]+ exhibit very similar IRMPD spectral profiles. However, the IRMPD yields of [Urd+H]+ exceed those of [dUrd+H]+ in both the IR fingerprint and hydrogen-stretching regions. The measured spectra are compared to the linear IR spectra predicted for the stable low-energy structures of these species computed at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory to determine the tautomeric conformations populated by electrospray ionization. Both B3LYP and MP2 methods find O4 and O2 protonated canonical as well as 2,4-dihydroxy tautomers among the stable low-energy structures of [Urd+H]+ and [dUrd+H]+. Comparison between the measured IRMPD and calculated linear IR spectra suggests that these species exist in their ring-closed forms and that both 2,4-dihydroxy tautomers as well as O4 protonated canonical conformers coexist in the population generated by electrospray ionization for both [Urd+H]+ and [dUrd+H]+. The 2′-deoxy modification of [dUrd+H]+ reduces the variety of 2,4-dihydroxy tautomers populated in the experiments vs. those of [Urd+H]+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hypothesis that polyaromatic molecules are the carriers of the infrared interstellar emission bands has spurred the laboratory spectroscopy of this class of molecules. Here we will give an overview of the infrared spectroscopic methods that have been applied over the past two decades to investigate the IR spectra of PAHs, their ions and related species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. A sensitive CO-laser-based photoacoustic trace-gas detector has been applied to study physiological processes in biological samples. A continuous flow-through system at atmospheric pressure leads the released trace gases from the sample to the photoacoustic resonator cells at flow rates where these processes can be studied with high time resolution. We focus here on transient effects that were found during fermentation of red bell peppers and apples, yielding in particular ethanol and acetaldehyde. Results are discussed also in the light of simultaneous O[sub 2] measurements using polarographic oxygen sensors. PACS: 42.55; 42.62; 82.80 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]