On the stability of glycine-water clusters with excess electron: Implications for photoelectron spectroscopy

Monomers of Glycine and Serine Have a Limited Ability to Hydrate in the Atmosphere

The role of atmospheric aerosols on climate change is one of the biggest uncertainties in most global climate models. Organic aerosols have been identified as potential cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), and amino acids are organic molecules that could serve as CCN. Amino acids make up a significant portion of the total organic material in the atmosphere, and herein we present a systematic study of hydration for two of the most common atmospheric amino acids, glycine and serine. We compute DLPNO/CCSD(T)//M08-HX/MG3S thermodynamic properties and atmospheric concentrations of Gly(H₂O)_n and Ser(H₂O)_n, where n = 1-5. We predict that serine-water clusters have higher concentrations at n = 1 and 5, while glycine-water clusters have higher concentrations at n = 2-4. However, both glycine and serine are inferred to exist primarily in their nonhydrated monomer forms in the absence of other species such as sulfuric acid.

Water-Induced Zwitterionization of Glycine: Stabilization Mechanism and Spectral Signatures

Not only the question of how many water molecules are required to stabilize the physiologically relevant charge-separated zwitterionic form of amino acids upon solvation but also the stabilization mechanism is still under debate. It is well known that a water bridge connecting the carboxyl with the amino group must be established. Here, we show that this is not yet a sufficient condition to stabilize the zwitterion. Instead, the formation of a bifurcated H-bonded water wire that connects the two charged groups turns out to be the key, which explains why an unexpectedly large number of water molecules of about nine is required to enable zwitterionization of microsolvated glycine. Moreover, this bifurcated wire allows one to pinpoint a frequency window that enables the detection of zwitterionization by spectroscopy. These findings will be relevant to probe and rationalize microsolvation-induced zwitterionization of not only amino acids but of other acid/base reactions that involve somewhat distant such functional groups within the same molecule.

Gas phase hydration of amino acids and dipeptides: effects on the relative stability of zwitterion vs. canonical conformers

This review highlights the effects of explicit water molecules on the structures of amino acids and dipeptides, focusing on the relative stability of canonical vs. zwitterionic conformers.

Geometry, Chemical Bonding, and Electronic Spectra of Sin and Sin−Glycine (n = 3−5) Complexes

Structures and spectra are calculated for Si(n) and Si(n)-Gly (n = 3-5) complexes. Relative stability differences of Gly conformers are magnified by interactions with the Si(n) cluster, so that one conformer of Si(n)-Gly is stabilized. Significant charge transfer occurs from the amino group in Gly to a Si atom in the cluster. Interactions with Gly are predicted to shift the excitation energies of Si(n) significantly to the blue to 2.1-2.7 eV, although they are still lower than in a Si cluster passivated by hydrogen.

Dipole-Bound Anions of β-Alanine: Canonical and Zwitterionic Conformers

The remarkable stabilities of the dipole-bound anions of the canonical and zwitterionic conformers of beta-alanine are predicted at the high level of theories, in which the former is the global minimum and the latter, the anti zwitterionic anion, is the local minimum. In contrast to the dipole-bound anions of glycine, the gauche zwitterionic anion of beta-alanine is an unstable conformer. The vertical electron detachment energies for the canonical and anti zwitterionic anions are 58 and 1145 meV, respectively. The photodetachment electron spectrum of the canonical anion is theoretically simulated on the basis of the Franck-Condon factor calculations.

Hydration number of glycine in aqueous solution: An experimental estimate

An experimental estimate of hydration number, N(H), of glycine in aqueous solution is given by using the calorimetric methodology developed by us earlier, which is briefly reviewed. We found NH to be 7+/-0.6 for glycine presumably in the zwitter ion form, 10+/-1 for sodium glycinate, and 5+/-0.4 for glycine hydrochloride. Both glycine and sodium glycinate seem to work purely as a hydration center without altering the nature of the bulk H2O away from the hydration shell. Glycine hydrochloride, in addition to the role of hydration center, seems also to act as a typical hydrophilic species such as polyols, urea, or polyethylene glycols. Hence, the effect of the latter on H2O is of a long range, like other hydrophilic species.

Photoelectron spectroscopy of the [glycine∙(H2O)1,2]− clusters: Sequential hydration shifts and observation of isomers

The electron binding energies of the small hydrated amino acid anions, [glycine x (H2O)(1,2)]-, are determined using photoelectron spectroscopy. The vertical electron detachment energies (VDEs) are found to increase by approximately 0.12 eV with each additional water molecule such that the higher electron binding isomer of the dihydrate is rather robust, with a VDE value of 0.33 eV. A weak binding isomer of the dihydrate is also recovered, however, with a VDE value (0.14 eV) lower than that of the monohydrate. Unlike the situation in the smaller (n < or = 13) water cluster anions, the [Gly x (H2O)(n > or = 6)]- clusters are observed to photodissociate via water monomer evaporation upon photoexcitation in the O-H stretching region. We discuss this observation in the context of the mechanism responsible for the previously observed [S. Xu, M. Nilles, and K. H. Bowen, Jr., J. Chem. Phys. 119, 10696 (2003)] sudden onset in the cluster formation at [Gly x (H2O)5]-.