Liquid-jet photoelectron spectroscopy (LJ-PES) and electronic-structure theory were employed to investigate the chemical and structural properties of the amino acid l-proline in aqueous solution for its three ionized states (protonated, zwitterionic, and deprotonated). This is the first PES study of this amino acid in its biologically relevant environment. Proline's structure in the aqueous phase under neutral conditions is zwitterionic, distinctly different from the nonionic neutral form in the gas phase. By analyzing the carbon 1s and nitrogen 1s core levels as well as the valence spectra of aqueous-phase proline, we found that the electronic structure is dominated by the protonation state of each constituent molecular site (the carboxyl and amine groups) with small yet noticeable interference across the molecule. The site-specific nature of the core-level spectra enables the probing of individual molecular constituents. The valence photoelectron spectra are more difficult to interpret because of the overlapping signals of proline with the solvent and pH-adjusting agents (HCl and NaOH). Yet, we are able to reveal subtle effects of specific (hydrogen-bonding) interaction with the solvent on the electronic structure. We also demonstrate that the relevant conformational space is much smaller for aqueous-phase proline than for its gas-phase analogue. This study suggests that caution must be taken when comparing photoelectron spectra for gaseous- and aqueous-phase molecules, particularly if those molecules are readily protonated/deprotonated in solution.

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Liquid-jet photoemission spectroscopy (LJ-PES) directly probes the electronic structure of solutes and solvents. It also emerges as a novel tool to explore chemical structure in aqueous solutions, yet the scope of the approach has to be examined. Here, we present a pH-dependent liquid-jet photoelectron spectroscopic investigation of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). We combine core-level photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations, allowing us to site-specifically explore the acid-base chemistry of the biomolecule. For the first time, we demonstrate the capability of the method to simultaneously assign two deprotonation sites within the molecule. We show that a large change in chemical shift appears even for atoms distant several bonds from the chemically modified group. Furthermore, we present a highly efficient and accurate computational protocol based on a single structure using the maximum-overlap method for modeling core-level photoelectron spectra in aqueous environments. This work poses a broader question: to what extent can LJ-PES complement established structural techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance? Answering this question is highly relevant in view of the large number of incorrect molecular structures published.

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• časopisecké články MeSH