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Kang DH, Koga M, Haldar N, Neumark DM. Dynamics of photoexcited 5-bromouracil and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine studied by extreme ultraviolet time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy in liquid flat jets. Chem Sci 2024:d4sc03920c. [PMID: 39364069 PMCID: PMC11446316 DOI: 10.1039/d4sc03920c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2024] [Accepted: 09/25/2024] [Indexed: 10/05/2024] Open
Abstract
The UV-induced photo-relaxation dynamics of 5-bromouracil (BrU) and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrUrd) in aqueous solution were investigated using femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy with an extreme ultraviolet (XUV) probe in a flat liquid jet. Upon excitation to the 1ππ* state by 4.66 eV UV photons, both molecules exhibited rapid relaxation into lower-lying electronic states followed by decay to the S0 ground state. By employing a 21.7 eV XUV probe pulse, we were able to differentiate the relaxation of the excited state population from the initially excited 1ππ* state to an intermediate electronic state with 100 fs. Computational results identify this intermediate as the 1πσ* excited state, accessed by a 1ππ*/1πσ* conical intersection, and the signal from this intermediate state disappears within ∼200 fs. In contrast to thymine, formation of neither the 1nπ* state nor a long-lived triplet state was observed. Although the 1πσ* state is largely repulsive, prior studies have reported a low quantum yield for dissociation, and we observe weak signals that are consistent with production of hot S0 ground state (for BrUrd) on a time scale of 1.5-2 ps. It thus appears that solvent caging effects limit the dissociation yield in solution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Do Hyung Kang
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley California 94720 USA
| | - Masafumi Koga
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley California 94720 USA
| | - Neal Haldar
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley California 94720 USA
| | - Daniel M Neumark
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley California 94720 USA
- Chemical Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley California 94720 USA
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2
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Xu P, Wang D, Li D, Long J, Zhang S, Zhang B. UV wavelength-dependent photoionization quantum yields for the dark 1nπ* state of aqueous thymidine. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024. [PMID: 39229763 DOI: 10.1039/d4cp02594f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/05/2024]
Abstract
Despite the important role of the dark 1nπ* state in the photostability of thymidine in aqueous solution, no detailed ultraviolet (UV) wavelength-dependent investigation of the 1nπ* quantum yield (QY) in aqueous thymidine has been experimentally performed. Here, we investigate the wavelength-dependent photoemission spectra of aqueous thymidine from 266.7 to 240 nm using liquid-microjet photoelectron spectroscopy. Two observed ionization channels are assigned to resonant ionizations from 1ππ* to the cationic ground state D0 (π-1) and 1nπ* to the cationic excited state D1 (n-1). The weak 1nπ* → D1 ionization channel appears due to ultrafast 1ππ* → 1nπ* internal conversion within the pulse duration of ∼180 fs. The obtained 1nπ* quantum yields exhibit a strong wavelength dependence, ranging from 0 to 0.27 ± 0.01, suggesting a hitherto uncharacterized 1nπ* feature. The corresponding vertical ionization energies (VIEs) of D0 and D1 of aqueous thymidine are experimentally determined to be 8.47 ± 0.12 eV and 9.22 ± 0.29 eV, respectively. Our UV wavelength-dependent QYs might indicate that different structural critical points to connect the multidimensional 1ππ*/1nπ* conical intersection seam onto the multidimensional potential energy surface of the 1ππ* state might exist and determine the relaxation processes of aqueous thymidine upon UV excitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piao Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Dongdong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Duoduo Li
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jinyou Long
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Song Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Bing Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China.
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3
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Koga M, Kang DH, Heim ZN, Meyer P, Erickson BA, Haldar N, Baradaran N, Havenith M, Neumark DM. Extreme ultraviolet time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of adenine, adenosine and adenosine monophosphate in a liquid flat jet. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:13106-13117. [PMID: 38629206 DOI: 10.1039/d4cp00856a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy using an extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) probe pulse was used to investigate the UV photoinduced dynamics of adenine (Ade), adenosine (Ado), and adenosine-5-monophosphate (AMP) in a liquid water jet. In contrast to previous studies using UV probe pulses, the XUV pulse at 21.7 eV can photoionize all excited states of a molecule, allowing for full relaxation pathways to be addressed after excitation at 4.66 eV. This work was carried out using a gas-dynamic flat liquid jet, resulting in considerably enhanced signal compared to a cylindrical jet. All three species decay on multiple time scales that are assigned based on their decay associated spectra; the fastest decay of ∼100 fs is assigned to ππ* decay to the ground state, while a smaller component with a lifetime of ∼500 fs is attributed to the nπ* state. An additional slower channel in Ade is assigned to the 7H Ade conformer, as seen previously. This work demonstrates the capability of XUV-TRPES to disentangle non-adiabatic dynamics in an aqueous solution in a state-specific manner and represents the first identification of the nπ* state in the relaxation dynamics of adenine and its derivatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masafumi Koga
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
| | - Do Hyung Kang
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
| | - Zachary N Heim
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
| | - Philipp Meyer
- Lehrstuhl für Physikalische Chemie II, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44801, Germany
| | - Blake A Erickson
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
| | - Neal Haldar
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
| | - Negar Baradaran
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
| | - Martina Havenith
- Lehrstuhl für Physikalische Chemie II, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44801, Germany
| | - Daniel M Neumark
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
- Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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4
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Lamas I, González J, Longarte A, Montero R. Influence of H-bonds on the photoionization of aromatic chromophores in water: The aniline molecule. J Chem Phys 2023; 158:2890456. [PMID: 37184001 DOI: 10.1063/5.0147503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 05/01/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
We have conducted time-resolved experiments (pump-probe and pump-repump-probe) on a model aromatic chromophore, aniline, after excitation in water at 267 nm. In the initial spectra recorded, in addition to the absorption corresponding to the bright ππ* excitation, the fingerprint of a transient state with the electron located on the solvent molecule is identified. We postulate that the latter corresponds to the πσ* state along the N-H bond, whose complete relaxation with a ∼500 ps lifetime results in the formation of the fully solvated electron and cation. This ionization process occurs in parallel with the ππ* photophysical channel that yields the characteristic ∼1 ns fluorescence lifetime. The observed branched pathway is rationalized in terms of the different H-bonds that the water establishes with the amino group. The proposed mechanism could be common for aromatics in water containing N-H or O-H bonds and would allow the formation of separated charges after excitation at the threshold of their electronic absorptions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iker Lamas
- Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU), Apart. 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Jorge González
- Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU), Apart. 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Asier Longarte
- Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU), Apart. 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Raúl Montero
- Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, SGIKER Laser Facility, UPV/EHU, Sarriena, S/N, 48940 Leioa, Spain
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5
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Yamamoto YI, Suzuki T. Distortion Correction of Low-Energy Photoelectron Spectra of Liquids Using Spectroscopic Data for Solvated Electrons. J Phys Chem A 2023; 127:2440-2452. [PMID: 36917090 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.2c08046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) enables real-time observation of ultrafast electronic dynamics in solutions. When extreme ultraviolet (EUV) probe pulses are employed, they can ionize solutes from all electronic states involved in the dynamics. However, EUV pulses also produce a strong ionization signal from a solvent that is typically 6 orders of magnitude greater than the pump-probe photoelectron signal of solutes. Alternatively, UV probe pulses enable highly sensitive and selective observation of photoexcited solutes because typical solvents such as water are transparent to UV radiation. An obstacle in such UV-TRPES measurements is spectral distortion caused by electron scattering and a yet to be identified mechanism in liquids. We have previously proposed the spectral retrieval (SR) method as an a posteriori approach to removing the distortion and overcoming this difficulty in UV-TRPES; however, its accuracy has not yet been verified by comparison with EUV-TRPES results. In the present study, we perform EUV-TRPES for charge transfer reactions in water, methanol, and ethanol, and verify SR analysis of UV-TRPES. We also estimate a previously undetermined energy-dependent intensity factor and expand the basis sets for SR analysis. The refined SR method is employed for reanalyzing the UV-TRPES data for the formation and relaxation dynamics of solvated electrons in various systems. The electron binding energy distributions for solvated electrons in liquid water, methanol, and ethanol are confirmed to be Gaussian centered at 3.78, 3.39, and 3.25 eV, respectively, in agreement with Nishitani et al. [ Sci. Adv. 2019, 5(8), eaaw6896]. An effective energy gap between the conduction band and the vacuum level at the gas-liquid interface is estimated to be 0.2 eV for liquid water and 0.1 eV for methanol and ethanol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yo-Ichi Yamamoto
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakecho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Toshinori Suzuki
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakecho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
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6
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Miura Y, Yamamoto YI, Karashima S, Orimo N, Hara A, Fukuoka K, Ishiyama T, Suzuki T. Formation of Long-Lived Dark States during Electronic Relaxation of Pyrimidine Nucleobases Studied Using Extreme Ultraviolet Time-Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:3369-3381. [PMID: 36724068 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c09803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Ultrafast electronic relaxation of nucleobases from 1ππ* states to the ground state (S0) is considered essential for the photostability of DNA. However, transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) has indicated that some nucleobases in aqueous solutions create long-lived 1nπ*/3ππ* dark states from the 1ππ* states with a high quantum yield of 0.4-0.5. We investigated electronic relaxation in pyrimidine nucleobases in both aqueous solutions and the gas phase using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. Femtosecond EUV probe pulses cause ionization from all electronic states involved in the relaxation process, providing a clear overview of the electronic dynamics. The 1nπ* quantum yields for aqueous cytidine and uracil (Ura) derivatives were found to be considerably lower (<0.07) than previous estimates reported by TAS. On the other hand, aqueous thymine (Thy) and thymidine exhibited a longer 1ππ* lifetime and a higher quantum yield (0.12-0.22) for the 1nπ* state. A similar trend was found for isolated Thy and Ura in the gas phase: the 1ππ* lifetimes are 39 and 17 fs and the quantum yield for 1nπ* are 1.0 and 0.45 for Thy and Ura, respectively. The result indicates that single methylation to the C5 position hinders the out-of-plane deformation that drives the system to the conical intersection region between 1ππ* and S0, providing a large impact on the photophysics/photochemistry of a pyrimidine nucleobase. The significant reduction of 1nπ* yield in aqueous solution is ascribed to the destabilization of the 1nπ* state induced by hydrogen bonding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuta Miura
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakecho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto606-8502, Japan
| | - Yo-Ichi Yamamoto
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakecho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto606-8502, Japan
| | - Shutaro Karashima
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakecho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto606-8502, Japan
| | - Natsumi Orimo
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakecho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto606-8502, Japan
| | - Ayano Hara
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakecho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto606-8502, Japan
| | - Kanae Fukuoka
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakecho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto606-8502, Japan
| | - Tatsuya Ishiyama
- Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, University of Toyama, Toyama930-8555, Japan
| | - Toshinori Suzuki
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwakecho, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto606-8502, Japan
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7
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Heim ZN, Neumark DM. Nonadiabatic Dynamics Studied by Liquid-Jet Time-Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy. Acc Chem Res 2022; 55:3652-3662. [PMID: 36480155 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.2c00609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The development of the liquid microjet technique by Faubel and co-workers has enabled the investigation of high vapor pressure liquids and solutions utilizing high-vacuum methods. One such method is photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), which allows one to probe the electronic properties of a sample through ionization in a state-specific manner. Liquid microjets consisting of pure solvents and solute-solvent systems have been studied with great success utilizing PES and, more recently, time-resolved PES (TRPES). Here, we discuss progress made over recent years in understanding the solvation and excited state dynamics of the solvated electron and nucleic acid constituents (NACs) using these methods, as well as the prospect for their future.The solvated electron is of particular interest in liquid microjet experiments as it represents the simplest solute system. Despite this simplicity, there were still many unresolved questions about its binding energy and excited state relaxation dynamics that are ideal problems for liquid microjet PES. In the work discussed in this Account, accurate binding energies were measured for the solvated electron in multiple high vapor pressure solvents. The advantages of liquid jet PES were further highlighted in the femtosecond excited state relaxation studies on the solvated electron in water where a 75 ± 20 fs lifetime attributable to internal conversion from the excited p-state to a hot ground state was measured, supporting a nonadiabatic relaxation mechanism.Nucleic acid constituents represent a class of important solutes with several unresolved questions that the liquid microjet PES method is uniquely suited to address. As TRPES is capable of tracking dynamics with state-specificity, it is ideal for instances where there are multiple excited states potentially involved in the dynamics. Time-resolved studies of NAC relaxation after excitation using ultraviolet light identified relaxation lifetimes from multiple excited states. The state-specific nature of the TRPES method allowed us to identify the lack of any signal attributable to the 1nπ* state in thymine derived NACs. The femtosecond time resolution of the technique also aided in identifying differences between the excited state lifetimes of thymidine and thymidine monophosphate. These have been interpreted, aided by molecular dynamics simulations, as an influence of conformational differences leading to a longer excited state lifetime in thymidine monophosphate.Finally, we discuss advances in tabletop light sources extending into the extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray regimes that allow expansion of liquid jet TRPES to full valence band and potentially core level studies of solutes and pure liquids in liquid microjets. As most solutes have ground state binding energies in the range of 10 eV, observation of both excited state decay and ground state recovery using ultraviolet pump-ultraviolet probe TRPES has been intractable. With high-harmonic generation light sources, it will be possible to not only observe complete relaxation pathways for valence level dynamics but to also track dynamics with element specificity by probing core levels of the solute of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary N Heim
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California94720, United States
| | - Daniel M Neumark
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California94720, United States.,Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California94720, United States
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8
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Abstract
Knowledge of the electronic structure of an aqueous solution is a prerequisite to understanding its chemical and biological reactivity and its response to light. One of the most direct ways of determining electronic structure is to use photoelectron spectroscopy to measure electron binding energies. Initially, photoelectron spectroscopy was restricted to the gas or solid phases due to the requirement for high vacuum to minimize inelastic scattering of the emitted electrons. The introduction of liquid-jets and their combination with intense X-ray sources at synchrotrons in the late 1990s expanded the scope of photoelectron spectroscopy to include liquids. Liquid-jet photoelectron spectroscopy is now an active research field involving a growing number of research groups. A limitation of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of aqueous solutions is the requirement to use solutes with reasonably high concentrations in order to obtain photoelectron spectra with adequate signal-to-noise after subtracting the spectrum of water. This has excluded most studies of organic molecules, which tend to be only weakly soluble. A solution to this problem is to use resonance-enhanced photoelectron spectroscopy with ultraviolet (UV) light pulses (hν ≲ 6 eV). However, the development of UV liquid-jet photoelectron spectroscopy has been hampered by a lack of quantitative understanding of inelastic scattering of low kinetic energy electrons (≲5 eV) and the impact on spectral lineshapes and positions.In this Account, we describe the key steps involved in the measurement of UV photoelectron spectra of aqueous solutions: photoionization/detachment, electron transport of low kinetic energy electrons through the conduction band, transmission through the water-vacuum interface, and transport through the spectrometer. We also explain the steps we take to record accurate UV photoelectron spectra of liquids with excellent signal-to-noise. We then describe how we have combined Monte Carlo simulations of electron scattering and spectral inversion with molecular dynamics simulations of depth profiles of organic solutes in aqueous solution to develop an efficient and widely applicable method for retrieving true UV photoelectron spectra of aqueous solutions. The huge potential of our experimental and spectral retrieval methods is illustrated using three examples. The first is a measurement of the vertical detachment energy of the green fluorescent protein chromophore, a sparingly soluble organic anion whose electronic structure underpins its fluorescence and photooxidation properties. The second is a measurement of the vertical ionization energy of liquid water, which has been the subject of discussion since the first X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement in 1997. The third is a UV photoelectron spectroscopy study of the vertical ionization energy of aqueous phenol which demonstrates the possibility of retrieving true photoelectron spectra from measurements with contributions from components with different concentration profiles.
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9
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Scholz M, Fortune WG, Tau O, Fielding HH. Accurate Vertical Ionization Energy of Water and Retrieval of True Ultraviolet Photoelectron Spectra of Aqueous Solutions. J Phys Chem Lett 2022; 13:6889-6895. [PMID: 35862937 PMCID: PMC9358712 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c01768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Ultraviolet (UV) photoelectron spectroscopy provides a direct way of measuring valence electronic structure; however, its application to aqueous solutions has been hampered by a lack of quantitative understanding of how inelastic scattering of low-energy (<5 eV) electrons in liquid water distorts the measured electron kinetic energy distributions. Here, we present an efficient and widely applicable method for retrieving true UV photoelectron spectra of aqueous solutions. Our method combines Monte Carlo simulations of electron scattering and spectral inversion, with molecular dynamics simulations of depth profiles of organic solutes in aqueous solution. Its application is demonstrated for both liquid water, and aqueous solutions of phenol and phenolate, which are ubiquitous biologically relevant structural motifs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael
S. Scholz
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, United Kingdom
| | - William G. Fortune
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, United Kingdom
| | - Omri Tau
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, United Kingdom
| | - Helen H. Fielding
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, United Kingdom
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10
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Tau O, Henley A, Boichenko AN, Kleshchina NN, Riley R, Wang B, Winning D, Lewin R, Parkin IP, Ward JM, Hailes HC, Bochenkova AV, Fielding HH. Liquid-microjet photoelectron spectroscopy of the green fluorescent protein chromophore. Nat Commun 2022; 13:507. [PMID: 35082282 PMCID: PMC8791993 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28155-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Green fluorescent protein (GFP), the most widely used fluorescent protein for in vivo monitoring of biological processes, is known to undergo photooxidation reactions. However, the most fundamental property underpinning photooxidation, the electron detachment energy, has only been measured for the deprotonated GFP chromophore in the gas phase. Here, we use multiphoton ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy in a liquid-microjet and high-level quantum chemistry calculations to determine the electron detachment energy of the GFP chromophore in aqueous solution. The aqueous environment is found to raise the detachment energy by around 4 eV compared to the gas phase, similar to calculations of the chromophore in its native protein environment. In most cases, electron detachment is found to occur resonantly through electronically excited states of the chromophore, highlighting their importance in photo-induced electron transfer processes in the condensed phase. Our results suggest that the photooxidation properties of the GFP chromophore in an aqueous environment will be similar to those in the protein. The electronic structures of photoactive proteins underlie many natural photoinduced processes. The authors, using UV liquid-microjet photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum chemistry calculations, determine electron detachment energies of the green fluorescent protein chromophore in aqueous solution, approaching conditions of the protein environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omri Tau
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK
| | - Alice Henley
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK
| | - Anton N Boichenko
- Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - River Riley
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK
| | - Bingxing Wang
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK.,College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Eastern Hualan Avenue, Xinxiang, 453003, China
| | - Danielle Winning
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK
| | - Ross Lewin
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK
| | - Ivan P Parkin
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK
| | - John M Ward
- The Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering, Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Helen C Hailes
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK
| | | | - Helen H Fielding
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK.
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11
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Paul SK, Herbert JM. Probing Interfacial Effects on Ionization Energies: The Surprising Banality of Anion-Water Hydrogen Bonding at the Air/Water Interface. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:10189-10202. [PMID: 34184532 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c03131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Liquid microjet photoelectron spectroscopy is an increasingly common technique to measure vertical ionization energies (VIEs) of aqueous solutes, but the interpretation of these experiments is subject to questions regarding sensitivity to bulk versus interfacial solvation environments. We have computed aqueous-phase VIEs for a set of inorganic anions, using a combination of molecular dynamics simulations and electronic structure calculations, with results that are in excellent agreement with experiment regardless of whether the simulation data are restricted to ions at the air/water interface or to those in bulk aqueous solution. Although the computed VIEs are sensitive to ion-water hydrogen bonding, we find that the short-range solvation structure is sufficiently similar in both environments that it proves impossible to discriminate between the two on the basis of the VIE, a conclusion that has important implications for the interpretation of liquid-phase photoelectron spectroscopy. More generally, analysis of the simulation data suggests that the surface activity of soft anions is largely a second or third solvation shell effect, arising from disruption of water-water hydrogen bonds and not from significant changes in first-shell anion-water hydrogen bonding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suranjan K Paul
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, United States
| | - John M Herbert
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, United States
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