Communication: He-tagged vibrational spectra of the SarGlyH+ and H+(H2O)2,3 ions: Quantifying tag effects in cryogenic ion vibrational predissociation (CIVP) spectroscopy

Hydrogen Tag Shifts as Vibrational Reporters for Positional Isomers of Formylphenides: Surprising Mobility of the Carbanion Center upon Collisional Decarboxylation of the Parent Benzoates

Infrared photodissociation of weakly bound "mass tags" is widely used to determine the structures of ions by analyzing their vibrational spectra. Molecular hydrogen is a common choice for tagging in cryogenic radio-frequency ion traps. Although the H2 molecules can introduce distortions in the target species, we demonstrate an advantage of H2 tagging in the analysis of positional isomers adopted by the molecular anions derived from decarboxylation of formylbenzoates. Attachment of H2 to the carbanion centers of three such isomers yields distinct shifts in the H2 stretch, which can be used to determine the distribution of isomers in an unknown sample. Electronic structure calculations indicate that the position-dependent shifts are due to different reactivities of the carbanion sites with respect to an intracluster proton-transfer reaction with the H2 molecule. We exploit this spectroscopic method to quantify the surprisingly facile migrations of the anionic center that have been previously reported for phenide rearrangements.

Electronic and vibrational spectroscopies of aromatic clusters with He in a supersonic jet: The case of neutral and cationic phenol-Hen (n = 1 and 2)

Van der Waals clusters composed of He and aromatic molecules provide fundamental information about intermolecular interactions in weakly bound systems. In this study, phenol-helium clusters (PhOH-Hen with n ≤ 2) are characterized for the first time by UV and IR spectroscopies. The S1 ← S0 origin and ionization energy both show small but additive shifts, suggesting π-bound structures of these clusters, a conclusion supported by rotational contour analyses of the S1 origin bands. The OH stretching vibrations of the PhOH moiety in the clusters match with those of bare PhOH in both the S0 and D0 states, illustrating the negligible perturbation of the He atoms on the molecular vibration. Matrix shifts induced by He attachment are discussed based on the observed band positions with the help of complementary quantum chemical calculations. For comparison, the UV and ionization spectra of PhOH-Ne are reported as well.

Infrared spectroscopy of cations in helium nanodroplets

Here, we describe our pulsed helium droplet apparatus for spectroscopy of molecular ions. Our approach involves the doping of the droplets of about 10 nm in diameter with precursor molecules, such as ethylene, followed by electron impact ionization. Droplets containing ions are irradiated by the pulsed infrared laser beam. Vibrational excitation of the embedded cations leads to the evaporation of the helium atoms in the droplets and the release of the free ions, which are detected by the quadrupole mass spectrometer. In this work, we upgraded the experimental setup by introducing an octupole RF collision cell downstream from the electron impact ionizer. The implementation of the RF ion guide increases the transmission efficiency of the ions. Filling the collision cell with additional He gas leads to a decrease in the droplet size, enhancing sensitivity to the laser excitation. We show that the spectroscopic signal depends linearly on the laser pulse energy, and the number of ions generated per laser pulse is about 100 times greater than in our previous experiments. These improvements facilitate faster and more reproducible measurements of the spectra, yielding a handy laboratory technique for the spectroscopic study of diverse molecular ions and ionic clusters at low temperature (0.4 K) in He droplets.

Single molecule infrared spectroscopy in the gas phase

Spectroscopy is a key analytical tool that provides valuable insight into molecular structure and is widely used to identify chemical samples. Tagging spectroscopy is a form of action spectroscopy in which the absorption of a single photon by a molecular ion is detected via the loss of a weakly attached, inert 'tag' particle (for example, He, Ne, N2)1-3. The absorption spectrum is derived from the tag loss rate as a function of incident radiation frequency. So far, all spectroscopy of gas phase polyatomic molecules has been restricted to large molecular ensembles, thus complicating spectral interpretation by the presence of multiple chemical and isomeric species. Here we present a novel tagging spectroscopic scheme to analyse the purest possible sample: a single gas phase molecule. We demonstrate this technique with the measurement of the infrared spectrum of a single gas phase tropylium (C7H7+) molecular ion. The high sensitivity of our method revealed spectral features not previously observed using traditional tagging methods4. Our approach, in principle, enables analysis of multicomponent mixtures by identifying constituent molecules one at a time. Single molecule sensitivity extends action spectroscopy to rare samples, such as those of extraterrestrial origin5,6, or to reactive reaction intermediates formed at number densities that are too low for traditional action methods.

Deciphering the Impact of Helium Tagging on Flexible Molecules: Probing Microsolvation Effects of Protonated Acetylene by Quantum Configurational Entropy

Helium, the lightest and most weakly interacting noble gas, is well-known for its unsurpassed chemical inertness. In many applications of helium in experimental techniques, such as tagging, messenger, or nanodroplet isolation action spectroscopy of molecules or complexes, it is assumed that the interaction of helium with the respective species, and thus the resulting interaction-induced perturbation, is small enough not to affect their structure and dynamics. Here, we probe the impact of one up to many attached helium atoms on protonated acetylene─an important nonclassical carbocation subject to three-center two-electron bonding in its ground state structure─using highly accurate interaction potentials in conjunction with entropy-based higher-order nonlinear correlation analysis. In particular, using neural network potentials at CCSD(T) accuracy, we disclose the specific structural perturbations due to the tagging of C₂H₃⁺ with up to 20 He atoms at a temperature of 1 K. Analysis reveals that microsolvation by helium influences the structure of C₂H₃⁺ noticeably, while our investigation of the quantum configurational information entropy additionally shows that correlations between individual orientational degrees of freedom are affected as a function of cluster size. In particular, it is found that the most probable bridge-like structure of the ro-vibrational quantum ground state of C₂H₃⁺, which is nonplanar and trans-bent in contrast to the perfectly planar equilibrium structure, becomes increasingly more localized upon adding helium atoms. The remarkably nonlinear behavior of the angular correlations as a function of cluster size is traced back to the buildup of the quantum microsolvation shell that enhances anisotropy up to N_He = 6 while more and more isotropic solvation takes over beyond six. Our approach is general and thus sets the stage to investigate the salient effects on the structure of flexible molecules due to tagging beyond the specific case.

The Competition between Hydrogen, Halogen, and Covalent Bonding in Atmospherically Relevant Ammonium Iodate Clusters

Iodine-containing clusters are expected to be central to new particle formation (NPF) events in polar and midlatitude coastal regions. Iodine oxoacids and iodine oxides are observed in newly formed clusters, and in more polluted midlatitude settings, theoretical studies suggest ammonia may increase growth rates. Structural information was obtained via infrared (IR) spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations for a series of clusters containing ammonia, iodic acid, and iodine pentoxide. Structures for five of the smallest cationic clusters present in the mass spectrum were identified, and four of the structures were found to preferentially form halogen and/or covalent bonds over hydrogen bonds. Ammonia is important in proton transfer from iodic acid components and also provides a scaffold to template the formation of a halogen and covalent bonded backbone. The calculations executed for the two largest clusters studied suggested the formation of a covalent I₃O8- anion within the clusters.

State-resolved infrared spectrum of the protonated water dimer: revisiting the characteristic proton transfer doublet peak

The infrared (IR) spectra of protonated water clusters encode precise information on the dynamics and structure of the hydrated proton. However, the strong anharmonic coupling and quantum effects of these elusive species remain puzzling up to the present day. Here, we report unequivocal evidence that the interplay between the proton transfer and the water wagging motions in the protonated water dimer (Zundel ion) giving rise to the characteristic doublet peak is both more complex and more sensitive to subtle energetic changes than previously thought. In particular, hitherto overlooked low-intensity satellite peaks in the experimental spectrum are now unveiled and mechanistically assigned. Our findings rely on the comparison of IR spectra obtained using two highly accurate potential energy surfaces in conjunction with highly accurate state-resolved quantum simulations. We demonstrate that these high-accuracy simulations are important for providing definite assignments of the complex IR signals of fluxional molecules.

Chemistry and physics of dopants embedded in helium droplets

Helium droplets represent a cold inert matrix, free of walls with outstanding properties to grow complexes and clusters at conditions that are perfect to simulate cold and dense regions of the interstellar medium. At sub-Kelvin temperatures, barrierless reactions triggered by radicals or ions have been observed and studied by optical spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The present review summarizes developments of experimental techniques and methods and recent results they enabled.

Infrared spectroscopy of ions and ionic clusters upon ionization of ethane in helium droplets

Helium droplets are unique hosts for isolating diverse molecular ions for infrared spectroscopic experiments. Recently, it was found that electron impact ionization of ethylene clusters embedded in helium droplets produces diverse carbocations containing three and four carbon atoms, indicating effective ion–molecule reactions. In this work, similar experiments are reported but with the saturated hydrocarbon precursor of ethane. In distinction to ethylene, no characteristic bands of larger covalently bound carbocations were found, indicating inefficient ion–molecule reactions. Instead, the ionization in helium droplets leads to formation of weaker bound dimers, such as (C2H6)(C2H4)+, (C2H6)(C2H5)+, and (C2H6)(C2H6)+, as well as larger clusters containing several ethane molecules attached to C2H4+, C2H5+, and C2H6+ ionic cores. The spectra of larger clusters resemble those for neutral, neat ethane clusters. This work shows the utility of the helium droplets to study small ionic clusters at ultra-low temperatures.

Microsolvation of H2O+, H3O+, and CH3OH2+ by He in a cryogenic ion trap: structure of solvation shells

Due to the weak interactions of He atoms with neutral molecules and ions, the preparation of size-selected clusters for the spectroscopic characterization of their structures, energies, and large amplitude motions is a challenging task. Herein, we generate H₂O⁺He_n (n ≤ 9) and H₃O⁺He_n (n ≤ 5) clusters by stepwise addition of He atoms to mass-selected ions stored in a cryogenic 22-pole ion trap held at 5 K. The population of the clusters as a function of n provides insight into the structure of the first He solvation shell around these ions given by the anisotropy of the cation-He interaction potential. To rationalize the observed cluster size distributions, the structural, energetic, and vibrational properties of the clusters are characterized by ab initio calculations up to the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level. The cluster growth around both the open-shell H₂O⁺ and closed-shell H₃O⁺ ions begins by forming nearly linear and equivalent OH⋯He hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) leading to symmetric structures. The strength of these H-bonds decreases slightly with n due to noncooperative three-body induction forces and is weaker for H₃O⁺ than for H₂O⁺ due to both enhanced charge delocalization and reduced acidity of the OH protons. After filling all available H-bonded sites, addition of further He ligands around H₂O⁺ (n = 3-4) occurs at the electrophilic singly occupied 2p_z orbital of O leading to O⋯He p-bonds stabilized by induction and small charge transfer from H₂O⁺ to He. As this orbital is filled for H₃O⁺, He atoms occupy in the n = 4-6 clusters positions between the H-bonded He atoms, leading to a slightly distorted regular hexagon ring for n = 6. Comparison between H₃O⁺He_n and CH₃OH₂⁺He_n illustrates that CH₃ substitution substantially reduces the acidity of the OH protons, so that only clusters up to n = 2 can be observed. The structure of the solvation sub-shells is visible in both the binding energies and the predicted vibrational OH stretch and bend frequencies.

Infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy and its potential for the clinical laboratory

Infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy is a powerful tool used to probe the vibrational modes-and, by extension, the structure-of an ion within an ion trap mass spectrometer. Compared to traditional FTIR spectroscopy, IRMPD spectroscopy has advantages including its sensitivity and its relative ability to handle complex mixtures. While IRMPD has historically been a technique for fundamental analyses, it is increasingly being applied in a more analytical fashion. Notable recent demonstrations pertinent to the clinical laboratory and adjacent interests include analysis of modified amino acids/residues and carbohydrates, structural elucidation (including isomeric differentiation) of metabolites, identification of novel illicit drugs, and structural studies of various biomolecules and pharmaceuticals. Improvements in analysis time, coupling to commercial instruments, and integration with separations methods are all drivers toward the realization of these analytical applications. Additional improvements in these areas, along with advances in benchtop tunable IR sources and increased cross-discipline collaboration, will continue to drive innovation and widespread adoption. The goal of this tutorial article is to briefly present the fundamentals and instrumentation of IRMPD spectroscopy, as an overview of the utility of this technique for helping to answer questions relevant to clinical analysis, and to highlight limitations to widespread adoption, as well as promising directions in which the field may be heading.

Infrared spectra of carbocations and CH4+ in helium

Infrared (IR) spectra of several hydrocarbon cations are reported, namely CH₃⁺, CH₄⁺, CH₅⁺, CH₅⁺(CH₄) and C₂H₅⁺. The spectra were generated from weakly-bound helium-cation complexes formed by electron ionization of helium nanodroplets doped with a neutral hydrocarbon precursor. Spectroscopic transitions were registered by photoexcitation of the complexes coupled with mass spectrometric detection of the bare ions. For CH₃⁺, we provide evidence showing that the helium-bound complexes contain 10-20 helium atoms (on average) and have a rotational temperature of ∼5 K. We show that this technique is well-suited to the study of highly symmetric or fluxional ionic species, as these intrinsic properties are preserved in the helium environment. This is in contrast to conventional tagging methods that use a single atom or molecule, which can change the point group or rigidity of the core ion and therefore the spectral profile. We demonstrate this for the highly fluxional molecular ion CH₅⁺, whose spectrum in the current study matches that of the gas phase ion, whereas the fluxionality is lost when a methane tag is added. Finally, we present the first IR spectrum of methane cation, CH₄⁺. The spectrum of this fundamental organic ion shows CH stretching bands consistent with a non-tetrahedral structure, a consequence of Jahn-Teller distortion.

Infrared spectroscopy of carbocations upon electron ionization of ethylene in helium nanodroplets

The electron impact ionization of helium droplets doped with ethylene molecules and clusters yields diverse C_XH_Y ⁺ cations embedded in the droplets. The ionization primarily produces C₂H₂ ⁺, C₂H₃ ⁺, C₂H₄ ⁺, and CH₂ ⁺, whereas larger carbocations are produced upon the reactions of the primary ions with ethylene molecules. The vibrational excitation of the cations leads to the release of bare cations and cations with a few helium atoms attached. The laser excitation spectra of the embedded cations show well resolved vibrational bands with a few wavenumber widths-an order of magnitude less than those previously obtained in solid matrices or molecular beams by tagging techniques. Comparison with the previous studies of free and tagged CH₂ ⁺, CH₃ ⁺, C₂H₂ ⁺, C₂H₃ ⁺, and C₂H₄ ⁺ cations shows that the helium matrix typically introduces a shift in the vibrational frequencies of less than about 20 cm^-1, enabling direct comparisons with the results of quantum chemical calculations for structure determination. This work demonstrates a facile technique for the production and spectroscopic study of diverse carbocations, which act as important intermediates in gas and condensed phases.

Chemical Reduction of NiII Cyclam and Characterization of Isolated NiI Cyclam with Cryogenic Vibrational Spectroscopy and Inert-Gas-Mediated High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Ni^II cyclam (cyclam = 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane) is an efficient catalyst for the selective reduction of CO₂ to CO. A crucial elementary step in the proposed catalytic cycle is the coordination of CO₂ to a Ni^I cyclam intermediate. Isolation and spectroscopic characterization of this labile Ni^I species without solvent has proven to be challenging, however, and only partial IR spectra have previously been reported using multiple photon fragmentation of ions generated by gas-phase electron transfer to the Ni^II cyclam dication at 300 K. Here, we report a chemical reduction method that efficiently prepares Ni^I cyclam in solution. This enables the Ni^I complex to be transferred into a cryogenic photofragmentation mass spectrometer using inert-gas-mediated electrospray ionization. The vibrational spectra of the 30 K ion using both H₂ and N₂ messenger tagging over the range 800-4000 cm^-1 were then measured. The resulting spectra were analyzed with the aid of electronic structure calculations, which show strong method dependence in predicted band positions and small molecule activation. The conformational changes of the cyclam ligand induced by binding of the open shell Ni^I cation were compared with those caused by the spherical, closed-shell Li^I cation, which has a similar ionic radius. We also report the vibrational spectrum of a Ni^I cyclam complex with a strongly bound O₂ ligand. The cyclam ligand supporting this species exhibits a large conformational change compared to the complexes with weakly bound N₂ and H₂, which is likely due to significant charge transfer from Ni to the coordinated O₂.

Vibrational spectroscopy of the cryogenically cooled O- and N-protomers of 4-Aminobenzoic acid: Tag effects, isotopic labels, and identification of the E,Z isomer of the O-protomer

4-Aminobenzoic acid (4ABA) is a biologically relevant, small organic molecule with two protonation sites: the amino group (N-protomer) and the carboxyl group (O-protomer). The O-protomer is energetically preferred in the gas-phase, while the higher energy N-protomer can be trapped using aprotic solvents such as acetonitrile during electrospray ionization. Here, we focus on the structure of the O-protomer, which can occur in three low-lying isomeric forms that result from different orientations of the OH groups relative to the benzene ring. We report the vibrational spectra of both N- and O-protomers of the cryogenically cooled ions in the gas phase over the spectral range 800-4000 cm-1. The bands arising from the OH stretches are isolated from the nearby NH stretching fundamentals using isotopic labeling as well as by analysis of the shifts in these fundamentals upon attachment of D2 and N2 molecules to the OH groups of the O-protomer. The spectra of isomers derived from the different locations of the adducts were isolated using two-color, IR-IR photofragmentation spectroscopy. The docking motifs by which the O-protomer binds to another 4ABA molecule is also explored and found to feature a bifurcated arrangement involving attachment of both OH groups of the protonated head group to the carbonyl group of the neutral partner.

Perturbation of Pyridinium CIVP Spectra by N2 and H2 Tags: An Experimental and BOMD Study

In cryogenic ion vibrational predissociation (CIVP) spectroscopy, the influence of the tag on the spectrum is an important consideration. Whereas for small ions several studies have shown that the tag effects can be significant, these effects are less understood for large ions or for large numbers of tags. Nevertheless, it is commonly assumed that if the investigated molecular ion is large enough, the perturbations arising from the tag are small and can therefore be neglected in the interpretation. In addition, it is generally assumed that the more weakly bound the tag is, the less it perturbs the CIVP spectrum. Under these assumptions, CIVP spectra are claimed to be effectively IR absorption spectra of the free molecular ion. Having observed unexpected splittings in otherwise unproblematic CIVP spectra of some tagged ions, we report Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations that strongly indicate that mobility among the more weakly bound tags leads to the surprising splittings. We compared the behavior of two tags commonly used in CIVP spectroscopy (H₂ and N₂) with a large pyridinium cation. Our experimental results surprisingly show that under the appropriate circumstances, the more weakly bound tag can perturb the CIVP spectra more than the more strongly bound tag by not just shifting but also splitting the observed bands. The more weakly bound tag had significant residence times at several spectroscopically distinct sites on the molecular ion. This indicates that the weakly bound tag is likely to sample several binding sites in the experiment, some of which involve interaction with the reporter chromophore.

Combining ultra-high resolution ion mobility spectrometry with cryogenic IR spectroscopy for the study of biomolecular ions

We explore the capability of SLIM-based IMS for isomer selectivity in combination with cryogenic, messenger-tagging IR spectroscopy.

Double-resonance spectroscopic schemes in combination with cryogenic ion traps are the go-to techniques when isomer-specific high-resolution spectra are required for analysis of molecular ions. Their limitation lies in the requirement for well-resolved, isomer-specific absorption bands as well as in the potentially time-consuming steps to identify each isomer. We present an alternative approach where isomeric species are readily separated using ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) and selected prior to cryogenic spectroscopic analysis. To date, most IMS approaches suffer from relatively low resolution, however, recent technological developments in the field of travelling-wave ion mobility using structures for lossless ion manipulation (SLIM) permit the use of extremely long drift paths, which greatly enhances the resolution. We demonstrate the power of combining this type of ultra-high resolution IMS with cryogenic vibrational spectroscopy by comparing mobility-resolved IR spectra of a disaccharide to those acquired using IR–IR double resonance. This new approach is especially promising for the investigation of larger molecules where spectral congestion interferes with double resonance techniques.

High Precision Electronic Spectroscopy of Ligand-Protected Gold Nanoclusters: Effects of Composition, Environment, and Ligand Chemistry

Atomically precise gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) are a class of nanomaterials valued for their electronic properties and diverse structural features. While the advent of X-ray crystallography of AuNCs has revealed their geometric structures with high precision, detailed electronic structure analysis is challenged by environmental, compositional, and thermal averaging effects present in electronic spectra of typical samples. To circumvent these challenges, we have adapted mass spectrometer-based electronic absorption spectroscopy techniques to acquire high-resolution electronic spectra of atomically precisely defined nanoclusters separated from a synthetic mixture. Here we discuss recent results using this approach to link the surface chemistry of triphenylphosphine-protected AuNCs to their electronic structure and expand on key elements of the experiment and the link between these gas-phase measurements and solution-phase behavior of AuNCs. Chemically derivatized Au₈(P(p-X-Ph)₃)₇²⁺ and Au₉(P(p-X-Ph)₃)₈³⁺ clusters, where X = -H, -CH₃, or -OCH₃, are used to derive systematic trends in the response of the electronic spectrum to the electron-donating character of the ligand shell. We find a linear relationship between the substituent Hammett parameter σ_p and the transition energy between both sets of clusters' highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals, a transition that is localized in the metal core within the limits of the superatomic model. The similarity of the mass-selective and solution-phase UV/vis spectra of Au₉(PPh₃)₈³⁺ indicates that the interpretation of these experiments is transferable to the condensed phase. He and N₂ environments are introduced to a series of isovalent clusters as a subtle probe of discrete environmental effects over electronic structure. Strikingly, select bands in the UV/vis spectrum respond strongly to the identity of the environment, which we interpret as a state-selective indicator of interfacially relevant electronic transitions. Physically predictable trends such as these will aid in building molecular design principles necessary for the development of novel materials based on nanoclusters.

Electronic spectra of ions of astrochemical interest: from fast overview spectra to high resolution

The combination of cryogenic ion traps with suitable light sources and standard tools of mass spectrometry has led to many innovative applications in previous years. This paper presents the combination of our versatile instrument with a supercontinuum laser for the rapid identification of ions that might be of special interest, e.g. as candidates for diffuse interstellar bands carriers. Using a linear wire quadrupole ion trap at 3 K, routine He-tagging, long irradiation times, and the brilliance and wide spectral range of a crystal fiber laser, mass selected ions have been exposed to spectral fluencies larger than 10 mJ (nm cm2)-1. These conditions result in an unsurpassed sensitivity, allowing us to find out within a few minutes and with nm accuracy, where photo absorption occurs with cross sections above 10-18 cm2. In this contribution, we present a variety of ions, probed between 420 and 720 nm. They have been generated by electron- or electrospray ionization of (polycyclic) aromatic hydrocarbons. For selected candidates, we recorded spectra with higher resolution and in the IR range. The anthracene dication has been selected to present a detailed analysis of our new results.

Identification of Active Sites and Structural Characterization of Reactive Ionic Intermediates by Cryogenic Ion Trap Vibrational Spectroscopy

Cryogenic ion trap vibrational spectroscopy paired with quantum chemistry currently represents the most generally applicable approach for the structural investigation of gaseous cluster ions that are not amenable to direct absorption spectroscopy. Here, we give an overview of the most popular variants of infrared action spectroscopy and describe the advantages of using cryogenic ion traps in combination with messenger tagging and vibrational predissociation spectroscopy. We then highlight a few recent studies that apply this technique to identify highly reactive ionic intermediates and to characterize their reactive sites. We conclude by commenting on future challenges and potential developments in the field.

Hydration motifs of ammonium bisulfate clusters of relevance to atmospheric new particle formation

We have analyzed the binding motifs of water bound to a prototypical cluster containing three ammonium cations and two bisulfate anions using mass-selective vibrational spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations.

Peptide Bond Ultraviolet Absorption Enables Vibrational Cold-Ion Spectroscopy of Nonaromatic Peptides

Peptide-bond VUV absorption is inherent to all proteins and peptides. Although widely exploited in top-down proteomics for photodissociation, this absorption has never been spectroscopically characterized in the gas phase. We have measured VUV/UV photofragmentation spectrum of a single peptide bond in a cryogenically cold protonated dipeptide. Although the spectrum appears to be very broadband and structureless, vibrational pre-excitation of this and even larger cold peptides significantly increases the UV dissociation yield for some of their photofragments. We use this effect to extend the technique of IR-UV photofragmentation vibrational spectroscopy, developed for aromatic peptides, to nonaromatic ones and demonstrate measurements of conformation-specific and nonspecific IR spectra for di- to hexa-peptides.

A 4 K FT-ICR cell for infrared ion spectroscopy

We present the design of the newly constructed cryogenic Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) ion trap for infrared ion spectroscopy. Trapped ions are collisionally cooled by the pulsed introduction of buffer gas into the cell. Using different buffer gases and cell temperatures, we record action spectra of weakly bound neutral gas-analyte complexes with an IR laser source. We show for the first time that ion-He complexes can be observed in an ICR cell at temperatures around 4 K. We compare the experimental vibrational spectra of Ag(PPh₃)₂⁺ obtained by tagging with different neutral gases: He, Ne, Ar, H₂, and N₂ to computed vibrational spectra. Furthermore, the conditions necessary for the formation of neutral tags within an ICR ion trap are studied.

Isomeric Broadening of C60+ Electronic Excitation in Helium Droplets: Experiments Meet Theory

Helium is considered an almost ideal tagging atom for cold messenger spectroscopy experiments. Although helium is bound very weakly to the ionic molecule of interest, helium tags can lead to shifts and broadenings that we recorded near 963.5 nm in the electronic excitation spectrum of C60+ solvated with up to 100 helium atoms. Dedicated quantum calculations indicate that the inhomogeneous broadening is due to different binding energies of helium to the pentagonal and hexagonal faces of C60+, their dependence on the electronic state, and the numerous isomeric structures that become available for intermediate coverage. Similar isomeric effects can be expected for optical spectra of most larger molecules surrounded by nonabsorbing weakly bound solvent molecules, a situation encountered in many messenger-tagging spectroscopy experiments.

Glycan analysis by ion mobility-mass spectrometry and gas-phase spectroscopy

Due to the existence of numerous isomers, the in-depth analysis of glycans represents a major challenge. Currently, the majority of glycans are analysed using mass spectrometry (MS)-based techniques, which can provide information on regioisomers but usually fail to differentiate stereoisomers. A promising approach to overcome this limitation is to implement ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) as an additional gas-phase separation dimension. This review highlights recent developments in which IM-MS was used as a tool for comprehensive glycan analysis or as rapid screening method for glycan feature analysis. Furthermore, we summarize a series of very recent investigations in which gas-phase spectroscopy is applied to study glycans and discuss the potential of the hyphenation between IM-MS and infrared (IR) spectroscopy as a future tool for glycomics and glycoproteomics.

Disentangling the Complex Vibrational Spectrum of the Protonated Water Trimer, H+(H2O)3, with Two-Color IR-IR Photodissociation of the Bare Ion and Anharmonic VSCF/VCI Theory

Vibrational spectroscopy of the protonated water trimer provides a stringent constraint on the details of the potential energy surface (PES) and vibrational dynamics governing excess proton motion far from equilibrium. Here we report the linear spectrum of the cold, bare H⁺(H₂O)₃ ion using a two-color, IR-IR photofragmentation technique and follow the evolution of the bands with increasing ion trap temperature. The key low-energy features are insensitive to both D₂ tagging and internal energy. The D₂-tagged D⁺(D₂O)₃ spectrum is reported for the first time, and the isotope dependence of the band pattern is surprisingly complex. These spectra are reproduced by large-scale vibrational configuration interaction calculations based on a new full-dimensional PES, which treat the anharmonic effects arising from large amplitude motion. The results indicate such extensive mode mixing in both isotopologues that one should be cautious about assigning even the strongest features to particular motions, especially for the absorptions that occur close to the intramolecular bending mode of the water molecule.

MP4 Study of the Anharmonic Coupling of the Shared Proton Stretching Vibration of the Protonated Water Dimer in Equilibrium and Transition States

The structure and harmonic and anharmonic IR spectra of the protonated water dimer (PWD) were calculated in C₁, C₂, and C_s symmetry at the MP4/acc-pVTZ level of theory. We found that structure and IR spectra are practically identical in C₂ and C₁ symmetry, demonstrating that an equilibrium C₁ configuration of the PWD is not realized. Anharmonic coupling of the shared proton stretching vibration with all other modes in the PWD in C₂ and C_s symmetry was the focus of this investigation. For this purpose, 28 two-dimensional potential energy surfaces (2D PES) were built at the MP4/acc-pVTZ level of theory and the corresponding vibrational Schrödinger equations were solved using the DVR method. Differences in the coupling of the investigated mode with other modes in the C₂ and C_s configurations, along with some factors that determine the red- or blue-shift of the stretching vibration frequency, were analyzed. We obtained a rather reasonable value of the stretching frequency of the bridging proton (1058.4 cm^-1) unperturbed by Fermi resonance. The Fermi resonance between the fundamental vibration ν₇ and the combined vibration ν₂ + ν₆ of the same symmetry was analyzed through anharmonic second-order perturbation theory calculations, as well as by 3D PES constructed using Q₂, Q₆, and Q₇ as normal coordinates. A significant (up to 50%) transfer of intensity from the fundamental vibration to the combined one was found. We have estimated the frequency of the bridging proton stretching vibration in the C_s configuration of the PWD based on calculations of the intrinsic anharmonicity and anharmonic double modes interactions at the MP4/acc-pVTZ level of theory (1261 cm^-1).

Conformation of protonated glutamic acid at room and cryogenic temperatures

Linear infrared spectroscopy of protonated glutamic acid in a cryogenic ion trap allows for the clear-cut and quantitative identification of the two conformers of this fundamental biomolecule.

The Hydrated Excess Proton in the Zundel Cation H5 O2 (+) : The Role of Ultrafast Solvent Fluctuations

The nature of the excess proton in liquid water has remained elusive after decades of extensive research. In view of ultrafast structural fluctuations of bulk water scrambling the structural motifs of excess protons in water, we selectively probe prototypical protonated water solvates in acetonitrile on the femtosecond time scale. Focusing on the Zundel cation H5 O2 (+) prepared in room-temperature acetonitrile, we unravel the distinct character of its vibrational absorption continuum and separate it from OH stretching and bending excitations in transient pump-probe spectra. The infrared absorption continuum originates from a strong ultrafast frequency modulation of the H(+) transfer vibration and its combination and overtones. Vibrational lifetimes of H5 O2 (+) are found to be in the sub-100 fs range, much shorter than those of unprotonated water. Theoretical results support a picture of proton hydration where fluctuating electrical interactions with the solvent and stochastic thermal excitations of low-frequency modes continuously modify the proton binding site while affecting its motions.

Helium Tagging Infrared Photodissociation Spectroscopy of Reactive Ions

The interrogation of reaction intermediates is key for understanding chemical reactions; however their direct observation and study remains a considerable challenge. Mass spectrometry is one of the most sensitive analytical techniques, and its use to study reaction mixtures is now an established practice. However, the information that can be obtained is limited to elemental analysis and possibly to fragmentation behavior, which is often challenging to analyze. In order to extend the available experimental information, different types of spectroscopy in the infrared and visible region have been combined with mass spectrometry. Spectroscopy of mass selected ions usually utilizes the powerful sensitivity of mass spectrometers, and the absorption of photons is not detected as such but rather translated to mass changes. One approach to accomplish such spectroscopy involves loosely binding a tag to an ion that will be removed by absorption of one photon. We have constructed an ion trapping instrument capable of reaching temperatures that are sufficiently low to enable tagging by helium atoms in situ, thus permitting infrared photodissociation spectroscopy (IRPD) to be carried out. While tagging by larger rare gas atoms, such as neon or argon is also possible, these may cause significant structural changes to small and reactive species, making the use of helium highly beneficial. We discuss the "innocence" of helium as a tag in ion spectroscopy using several case studies. It is shown that helium tagging is effectively innocent when used with benzene dications, not interfering with their structure or IRPD spectrum. We have also provided a case study where we can see that despite its minimal size there are systems where He has a huge effect. A strong influence of the He tagging was shown in the IRPD spectra of HCCl(2+) where large spectral shifts were observed. While the presented systems are rather small, they involve the formation of mixtures of isomers. We have therefore implemented two-color experiments where one laser is employed to selectively deplete a mixture by one (or more) isomer allowing helium tagging IRPD spectra of the remaining isomer(s) to be recorded via the second laser. Our experimental setup, based on a linear wire quadrupole ion trap, allows us to deplete almost 100% of all helium tagged ions in the trap. Using this special feature, we have developed attenuation experiments for determination of absolute photofragmentation cross sections. At the same time, this approach can be used to estimate the representation of isomers in a mixture. The ultimate aim is the routine use of this instrument and technique to study a wide range of reaction intermediates in catalysis. To this end, we present a study of hypervalent iron(IV)-oxo complexes ([(L)Fe(O)(NO3)](+)). We show that we can spectroscopically differentiate iron complexes with S = 1 and S = 2 according to the stretching vibrations of a nitrate counterion.