Alanine Radicals. 2. The Composite Polycrystalline Alanine EPR Spectrum Studied by ENDOR, Thermal Annealing, and Spectrum Simulations

Radiation-induced free radical formation in the amino acid l-α-alanine has been studied using powder and single-crystal X-, K-, and Q-band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, X-band powder electron−nuclear double resonance (ENDOR), thermal annealing, and EPR spectrum simulations. The spectra obtained after room temperature irradiations are composite, consisting of resonances from mainly three radicals denoted R1, R2, and R3. R1 is the well-known, stable room-temperature species formed by deamination from a protonated alanine anion radical. On the basis of simulations of EPR spectra obtained at X-, K-, and Q-bands, the room-temperature EPR spectrum seems to consist of about 55% of R1. Upon thermal annealing, the R1 resonance disappears faster than those of the other two components. The R2 species is presumably formed in the oxidative chain of radiation-induced events by net H-abstraction from the central alanine carbon atom. Q-band EPR was used to determine the g-tensor of R2. This species ...