Infrared Multiple-Photon Dissociation Spectra of Sodiated Complexes of the Aliphatic Amino Acids

Perspective: intrinsic interactions of metal ions with biological molecules as studied by threshold collision-induced dissociation and infrared multiple photon dissociation

In this perspective, gas-phase studies of group 1 monocations and group 12 dications with amino acids and small peptides are highlighted. Although the focus is on two experimental techniques, threshold collision-induced dissociation and infrared multiple photon dissociation action spectroscopy, these methods as well as complementary approaches are summarized. The synergistic interplay with theory, made particularly powerful by the small sizes of the systems explored and the absence of solvent and support, is also elucidated. Importantly, these gas-phase methods permit quantitative insight into the structures and thermodynamics of metal cations interacting with biological molecules. Periodic trends in how these interactions vary as the metal cations get heavier are discussed as are quantitative trends with changes in the amino acid side chain and effects of hydration. Such trends allow these results to transcend the limitations associated with the biomimetic model systems.

The impact of solvation on the structure and electric field strength in Li+GlyGly complexes

To scrutinise the impact of electric fields on the structure and vibrations of biomolecules in the presence of water, we study the sequential solvation of lithium diglycine up to three water molecules with cryogenic infrared action spectroscopy. Conformer-specific IR-IR spectroscopy and H2O/D2O isotopic substitution experiments provide most of the information required to decipher the structure of the observed conformers. Additional confirmation is provided by scaled harmonic vibrational frequency calculations using MP2 and DFT. The first water molecule is shown to bind to the Li+ ion, which weakens the electric field experienced by the peptide and as a consequence, also the strength of an internal NH⋯NH2 hydrogen bond in the diglycine backbone. The strength of this hydrogen bond decreases approximately linearly with the number of water molecules as a result of the decreasing electric field strength and coincides with an increase in the number of conformers observed in our spectra. The addition of two water molecules is already sufficient to change the preferred conformation of the peptide backbone, allowing for Li+ coordination to the lone pair of the terminal amine group.

The impact of the electric field of metal ions on the vibrations and internal hydrogen bond strength in alkali metal ion di- and triglycine complexes

Using infrared predissociation spectroscopy of cryogenic ions, we revisit the vibrational spectra of alkali metal ion (Li+, Na+, K+) di- and triglycine complexes. We assign their most stable conformation, which involves metal ion coordination to all C=O groups and an internal NH⋯NH2 hydrogen bond in the peptide backbone. An analysis of the spectral shifts of the OH and C=O stretching vibrations across the different metal ions and peptide chain lengths shows that these are largely caused by the electric field of the metal ion, which varies in strength as a function of the square of the distance. The metal ion–peptide interaction also remotely modulates the strength of internal hydrogen bonding in the peptide backbone via the weakening of the amide C=O bond, resulting in a decrease in internal hydrogen bond strength from Li+ > Na+ > K+.

Infrared multiple-photon dissociation spectroscopy of cationized glycine: effects of alkali metal cation size on gas-phase conformation

The gas-phase structures of cationized glycine (Gly), including complexes with Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, and Cs⁺, are examined using infrared multiple-photon dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy utilizing light generated by a free electron laser, in conjunction with ab initio calculations. To identify the structures present in the experimental studies, measured IRMPD spectra are compared to spectra calculated at B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) for the Li⁺, Na⁺, and K⁺ complexes and at B3LYP/def2TZVP for the Rb⁺ and Cs⁺ complexes. Single-point energy calculations were carried out at the B3LYP, B3P86, and MP2(full) levels using the 6-311+G(2d,2p) basis set for Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ and the def2TZVPP basis set for Rb⁺ and Cs⁺. The Li⁺ and Na⁺ complexes are identified as metal cation coordination to the amino nitrogen and carbonyl oxygen, [N,CO]-tt, although Na⁺(Gly) may have contributions from additional structures. The heavier metal cations coordinate to either the carbonyl oxygen, [CO]-cc, or the carbonyl oxygen and hydroxy oxygen, [CO,OH]-cc, with the former apparently preferred for Rb⁺ and Cs⁺ and the latter for K⁺. These two structures reside in a double-well potential and different levels of theory predict very different relative stabilities. Some experimental evidence is provided that MP2(full) theory provides the most accurate relative energies.

Protonation of Serine in Gas and Condensed and Microsolvated States in Aqueous Solution

Identification of molecules and elucidation of their chemical structure are ubiquitous problems in chemistry. Mass spectrometry (MS) can be used due to its sensitivity and versatility. For detection to occur, analytes must be ionized and transferred to the gas phase. Soft ionization processes such as electrospray ionization are popular; however, resulting microsolvated phases can alter the chemistry of analytes and therefore detection and identification. To understand these processes, we use computational methods to probe the ionization propensity of serine in the gas phase, aqueous microsolvated clusters, and aqueous solution. We show that the tautomeric form of serine is altered by the presence of water, as five water molecules can stabilize the zwitterionic tautomer. Inclusion of cosolutes such as ions can stabilize the zwitterion with as few as one or two water molecules present. We demonstrate that ionization propensity, as measured by gas phase bacisity, can increase by over 100 kJ/mol when placed in a small water-serine cluster, showing the sensitivity of the chemistry of microsolvated analytes. Finally, detailed analysis reveals that small droplets (less than seven water molecules) are extremely sensitive to addition of further water molecules. Beyond this limit, structural and electronic properties change little with droplet size.

Sodium Binding Interactions with Aliphatic Amino Acids: A Guided Ion Beam and Computational Study

Metal binding affinities play a vital role in medicinal, biological, and industrial applications. In particular, metal cation-amino acid (AA) interactions contribute to protein stability such that analyzing analogous prototypical interactions is important. Here, we present a full description of the interactions of sodium cations (Na⁺) and six aliphatic amino acids (AA), where AA = glycine (Gly), alanine (Ala), homoalanine (hAla), valine (Val), leucine (Leu), and isoleucine (Ile). Experimentally, these interactions are evaluated using threshold collision-induced dissociation carried out in a guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometer, allowing for the determination of the kinetic-energy-dependent behavior of Na⁺-AA dissociation. Analysis of these dissociation cross sections, after accounting for multiple ion-molecule collisions, internal energy of reactant ions, and unimolecular decay rates, allows the determination of absolute Na⁺-AA bond dissociation energies (BDEs) in kJ/mol of Gly (164.0), Ala (166.9), hAla (167.9), Val (172.7), Leu (173.7), and Ile (174.6). These are favorably compared to quantum chemical calculations conducted at the B3LYP, B3P86, MP2(full), B3LYP-GD3BJ, and M06-2X levels of theory. Our combination of structural and energetic analyses provides information regarding the specific factors responsible for Na⁺ interactions with amino acids. Specifically, we find that the BDEs increase linearly with increasing polarizability of the amino acid.