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Brás EM, Zimmermann C, Fausto R, Suhm MA. Benchmarking the anisotropy of nitroxyl radical solvation with IR spectroscopy. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:5822-5829. [PMID: 38314587 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp05668f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2024]
Abstract
Two simple nitroxyl radicals, di-tert-butyl nitroxyl (DTBN) and 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxyl (TEMPO) are solvated by one or two water, methanol, tert-butyl alcohol or phenol molecules. The resulting low temperature IR spectra of the vacuum-isolated microsolvates in the OH stretching range are assigned based on harmonic DFT predictions for closed shell solvent dimers and trimers and their offset from experiment, to minimise theory-guided assignment bias. Systematic conformational preferences for the first and second solvent molecule are observed, depending on the conformational rigidity of the radical. These assignments are collected into an experimental benchmark data set and used to assess the spectral predicting power of different DFT approaches. The goal is to find inexpensive computational methods which provide reliable spectral predictions for this poorly explored class of microsolvates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa M Brás
- University of Göttingen, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Tammannstr. 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
- CQC-IMS, Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Charlotte Zimmermann
- University of Göttingen, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Tammannstr. 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
| | - Rui Fausto
- CQC-IMS, Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal
- Faculty of Sciences and Letters, Department of Physics, Istanbul Kultur University, Ataköy Campus, Bakirköy 34156, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Martin A Suhm
- University of Göttingen, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Tammannstr. 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
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Harrabi R, Halbritter T, Alarab S, Chatterjee S, Wolska-Pietkiewicz M, Damodaran KK, van Tol J, Lee D, Paul S, Hediger S, Sigurdsson ST, Mentink-Vigier F, De Paëpe G. AsymPol-TEKs as efficient polarizing agents for MAS-DNP in glass matrices of non-aqueous solvents. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:5669-5682. [PMID: 38288878 PMCID: PMC10849081 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp04271e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Two polarizing agents from the AsymPol family, AsymPol-TEK and cAsymPol-TEK (methyl-free version) are introduced for MAS-DNP applications in non-aqueous solvents. The performance of these new biradicals is rationalized in detail using a combination of electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, density functional theory, molecular dynamics and quantitative MAS-DNP spin dynamics simulations. By slightly modifying the experimental protocol to keep the sample temperature low at insertion, we are able to obtain reproducable DNP-NMR data with 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (TCE) at 100 K, which facilitates optimization and comparison of different polarizing agents. At intermediate magnetic fields, AsymPol-TEK and cAsymPol-TEK provide 1.5 to 3-fold improvement in sensitivity compared to TEKPol, one of the most widely used polarizing agents for organic solvents, with significantly shorter DNP build-up times of ∼1 s and ∼2 s at 9.4 and 14.1 T respectively. In the course of the work, we also isolated and characterized two diastereoisomers that can form during the synthesis of AsymPol-TEK; their difference in performance is described and discussed. Finally, the advantages of the AsymPol-TEKs are demonstrated by recording 2D 13C-13C correlation experiments at natural 13C-abundance of proton-dense microcrystals and by polarizing the surface of ZnO nanocrystals (NCs) coated with diphenyl phosphate ligands. For those experiments, cAsymPol-TEK yielded a three-fold increase in sensitivity compared to TEKPol, corresponding to a nine-fold time saving.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rania Harrabi
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, CNRS, IRIG, MEM, 38000 Grenoble, France.
| | - Thomas Halbritter
- University of Iceland, Department of Chemistry, Science Institute, Dunhaga 3, 107 Reykjavik, Iceland.
| | - Shadi Alarab
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, CNRS, IRIG, MEM, 38000 Grenoble, France.
| | - Satyaki Chatterjee
- University of Iceland, Department of Chemistry, Science Institute, Dunhaga 3, 107 Reykjavik, Iceland.
| | | | - Krishna K Damodaran
- University of Iceland, Department of Chemistry, Science Institute, Dunhaga 3, 107 Reykjavik, Iceland.
| | - Johan van Tol
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32301, USA.
| | - Daniel Lee
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, CNRS, IRIG, MEM, 38000 Grenoble, France.
| | - Subhradip Paul
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, CNRS, IRIG, MEM, 38000 Grenoble, France.
| | - Sabine Hediger
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, CNRS, IRIG, MEM, 38000 Grenoble, France.
| | - Snorri Th Sigurdsson
- University of Iceland, Department of Chemistry, Science Institute, Dunhaga 3, 107 Reykjavik, Iceland.
| | - Frederic Mentink-Vigier
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32301, USA.
| | - Gaël De Paëpe
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, CNRS, IRIG, MEM, 38000 Grenoble, France.
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Tran VA, Teucher M, Galazzo L, Sharma B, Pongratz T, Kast SM, Marx D, Bordignon E, Schnegg A, Neese F. Dissecting the Molecular Origin of g-Tensor Heterogeneity and Strain in Nitroxide Radicals in Water: Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Experiment versus Theory. J Phys Chem A 2023; 127:6447-6466. [PMID: 37524058 PMCID: PMC10424240 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.3c02879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 07/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/02/2023]
Abstract
Nitroxides are common EPR sensors of microenvironmental properties such as polarity, numbers of H-bonds, pH, and so forth. Their solvation in an aqueous environment is facilitated by their high propensity to form H-bonds with the surrounding water molecules. Their g- and A-tensor elements are key parameters to extracting the properties of their microenvironment. In particular, the gxx value of nitroxides is rich in information. It is known to be characterized by discrete values representing nitroxide populations previously assigned to have different H-bonds with the surrounding waters. Additionally, there is a large g-strain, that is, a broadening of g-values associated with it, which is generally correlated with environmental and structural micro-heterogeneities. The g-strain is responsible for the frequency dependence of the apparent line width of the EPR spectra, which becomes evident at high field/frequency. Here, we address the molecular origin of the gxx heterogeneity and of the g-strain of a nitroxide moiety (HMI: 2,2,3,4,5,5-hexamethylimidazolidin-1-oxyl, C9H19N2O) in water. To treat the solvation effect on the g-strain, we combined a multi-frequency experimental approach with ab initio molecular dynamics simulations for structural sampling and quantum chemical EPR property calculations at the highest realistically affordable level, including an explicitly micro-solvated HMI ensemble and the embedded cluster reference interaction site model. We could clearly identify the distinct populations of the H-bonded nitroxides responsible for the gxx heterogeneity experimentally observed, and we dissected the role of the solvation shell, H-bond formation, and structural deformation of the nitroxide in the creation of the g-strain associated with each nitroxide subensemble. Two contributions to the g-strain were identified in this study. The first contribution depends on the number of hydrogen bonds formed between the nitroxide and the solvent because this has a large and well-understood effect on the gxx-shift. This contribution can only be resolved at high resonance frequencies, where it leads to distinct peaks in the gxx region. The second contribution arises from configurational fluctuations of the nitroxide that necessarily lead to g-shift heterogeneity. These contributions cannot be resolved experimentally as distinct resonances but add to the line broadening. They can be quantitatively analyzed by studying the apparent line width as a function of microwave frequency. Interestingly, both theory and experiment confirm that this contribution is independent of the number of H-bonds. Perhaps even more surprisingly, the theoretical analysis suggests that the configurational fluctuation broadening is not induced by the solvent but is inherently present even in the gas phase. Moreover, the calculations predict that this broadening decreases upon solvation of the nitroxide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Van Anh Tran
- Max-Planck-Institut
für Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
| | - Markus Teucher
- Max-Planck-Institut
für Chemische Energiekonversion, Stiftstraße 34-36, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
| | - Laura Galazzo
- Department
of Physical Chemistry, University of Geneva, Quai Ernest Ansermet 30, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
- Faculty
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ruhr-Universität
Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Bikramjit Sharma
- Lehrstuhl
für Theoretische Chemie, Ruhr-Universität
Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Tim Pongratz
- Fakultät
für Chemie und Chemische Biologie, Technische Universität Dortmund, Otto-Hahn-Str. 4a, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
| | - Stefan M. Kast
- Fakultät
für Chemie und Chemische Biologie, Technische Universität Dortmund, Otto-Hahn-Str. 4a, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
| | - Dominik Marx
- Lehrstuhl
für Theoretische Chemie, Ruhr-Universität
Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Enrica Bordignon
- Department
of Physical Chemistry, University of Geneva, Quai Ernest Ansermet 30, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
- Faculty
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ruhr-Universität
Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Alexander Schnegg
- Max-Planck-Institut
für Chemische Energiekonversion, Stiftstraße 34-36, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
| | - Frank Neese
- Max-Planck-Institut
für Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
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