Free-Jet Rotational Spectrum and ab Initio Calculations of Formanilide

Neutral Peptides in the Gas Phase: Conformation and Aggregation Issues

Combined IR and UV laser spectroscopic techniques in molecular beams merged with theoretical approaches have proven to be an ideal tool to elucidate intrinsic structural properties on a molecular level. It offers the possibility to analyze structural changes, in a controlled molecular environment, when successively adding aggregation partners. By this, it further makes these techniques a valuable starting point for a bottom-up approach in understanding the forces shaping larger molecular systems. This bottom-up approach was successfully applied to neutral amino acids starting around the 1990s. Ever since, experimental and theoretical methods developed further, and investigations could be extended to larger peptide systems. Against this background, the review gives an introduction to secondary structures and experimental methods as well as a summary on theoretical approaches. Vibrational frequencies being characteristic probes of molecular structure and interactions are especially addressed. Archetypal biologically relevant secondary structures investigated by molecular beam spectroscopy are described, and the influences of specific peptide residues on conformational preferences as well as the competition between secondary structures are discussed. Important influences like microsolvation or aggregation behavior are presented. Beyond the linear α-peptides, the main results of structural analysis on cyclic systems as well as on β- and γ-peptides are summarized. Overall, this contribution addresses current aspects of molecular beam spectroscopy on peptides and related species and provides molecular level insights into manifold issues of chemical and biochemical relevance.

The complete conformational panorama of formanilide–water complexes: the role of water as a conformational switch

Different interactions of water and formanilide were observed. Water reverts the stability of the cis–trans formanilide conformational equilibrium.

Conformational structures of jet-cooled acetaminophen-water clusters: a gas phase spectroscopic and computational study

Jet-cooled acetaminophen (AAP)-water clusters, AAP-(H₂O)₁, were investigated by mass-selected resonant two-photon ionization (R2PI), ultraviolet-ultraviolet hole-burning (UV-UV HB), infrared-dip (IR-dip), and infrared-ultraviolet hole-burning (IR-UV HB) spectroscopy. Each syn- and anti-AAP rotamer has three distinctive binding sites (-OH, >CO, and >NH) for a water molecule, thus 6 different AAP-(H₂O)₁ conformers are expected to exist in the molecular beam. The origin bands of the AAP(OH)-(H₂O)₁ and AAP(CO)-(H₂O)₁ conformers (including their syn- and anti-conformers) in the R2PI spectrum are shifted to red and blue compared to those of the AAP monomer, respectively. These frequency shifts upon complexation between a water molecule and a specific binding site of AAP are also predicted by theoretical calculations. The spectral assignments of the origin bands in the R2PI spectra and the IR vibrational bands in the IR-dip spectra of the four lowest-energy conformers of AAP-(H₂O)₁, [syn- and anti-AAP(OH)-(H₂O)₁ and syn- and anti-AAP(CO)-(H₂O)₁], are aided by ab initio and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations. Further investigation of the IR-dip spectra has revealed a hydrogen-bonded NH stretching mode, supporting the presence of the syn-AAP(NH)-(H₂O)₁ conformer. Moreover, by employing IR-UV HB spectroscopy, we have reconfirmed the existence of the syn-AAP(NH)-(H₂O)₁ conformer, which happened to be buried underneath the broad background contributed by the AAP(OH)-(H₂O)₁ conformers. These observations have led us to conclude that all of the possible conformers of AAP-(H₂O)₁ have been found in this study.

Conformational properties of cis- and trans-N-Cyclopropylformamide studied by microwave spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations

The microwave spectra of cis- and trans-N-cyclopropylformamide, C3H5NHC(═O)H, have been investigated in the 31-123 GHz spectral region at room temperature. Rotational isomerism about the Cring-N bond is possible for both cis and trans. MP2/cc-pVTZ and CCSD/cc-pVTZ calculations indicate that there are two conformers in the case of cis, called Cis I and Cis II, while only one rotamer, denoted Trans, exists for trans-N-cyclopropylformamide. The quantum chemical methods predict that Cis I has an electronic energy that is 8-9 kJ/mol higher than the energy of Cis II. The CCSD H-Cring-N-H dihedral angle is 0.0° in Cis I, 93.0° in Cis II and 79.9° in Trans. The CCSD and MP2 calculations predict a slightly nonplanar structure for the amide moiety in both Trans and Cis II, whereas Cis I is computed to have a planar amide group bisecting the cyclopropyl ring. Surprisingly, the MP2 and CCSD methods predict practically the same energy for Trans and Cis II. The spectra of Cis II in the ground state and in two vibrationally excited states were assigned, while the spectrum of Cis I was not found presumably because of a low Boltzmann population due to a relatively large energy difference (8-9 kJ/mol). The spectra of the ground vibrational state and seven vibrationally excited states of Trans, were assigned. Vibrational frequencies of several of the excited state of both Cis II and Trans were determined by relative intensity measurements. The experimental and CCSD rotational constants are in satisfactory agreement. The MP2 values of the quartic centrifugal distortion constants of both species are in relatively poor agreement with their experimental counterparts. The MP2 vibration-rotation constants and sextic centrifugal distortion constants have little resemblance with the corresponding experimental values.

An ab initio study toward understanding the mechanistic photochemistry of acetamide

The potential energy surfaces for CH(3)CONH(2) dissociation into CH(3) + CONH(2), CH(3)CO + NH(2), CH(3)CN + H(2)O, and CH(3)NH(2) + CO in the ground and lowest triplet states have been mapped with DFT, MP2, and CASSCF methods with the cc-pVDZ and cc-pVTZ basis sets, while the S(1) potential energy surfaces for these reactions were determined by the CASSCF/cc-pVDZ optimizations followed by CASSCF/MRSDCI single-point calculations. The reaction pathways leading to different photoproducts are characterized on the basis of the computed potential energy surfaces and surface crossing points. A comparison of the reactivity among HCONH(2), CH(3)CONH(2), and CH(3)CONHCH(3) has been made, which provides some new insights into the mechanism of the ultraviolet photodissociation of small amides.