Chemical properties of inner and surficial regions of hydrogen-bonded clusters of biological molecules: ultraviolet photodissociation and water adsorption analyses in the gas phase.

The chemical and physical properties of cold, gas-phase hydrogen-bonded clusters of L-alanine (L-Ala), L-trialanine (L-Ala3), L-tetraalanine (L-Ala4), and tryptophan (Trp) enantiomers were investigated using tandem mass spectrometry with an electrospray ionization source and cold ion trap. From the ultraviolet (UV) photodissociation spectra at 265-290 nm, the electronic structures of homochiral H+(L-Trp)(L-Ala) at 8 K were found to be different from those of heterochiral H+(D-Trp)(L-Ala) and protonated Trp. The number of water molecules adsorbed on the surface of gas-phase H+(D-Trp)(L-Ala) was larger than that of H+(L-Trp)(L-Ala), indicating stronger intermolecular interactions of L-Ala with H+(L-Trp) than those with H+(D-Trp). The product ion spectrum obtained by 265 nm photoexcitation of H+(L-Trp)(L-Ala3)(H2O)n formed via gas-phase water adsorption on H+(L-Trp)(L-Ala3) showed that the evaporation of water molecules was the main photodissociation process. In the case of H+(L-Trp)(L-Ala4)(H2O)n, signals of H+(L-Ala4) (H2O)n formed via L-Trp evaporation were observed in the product ion spectra, and the cross-section for UV photoinduced L-Trp evaporation became larger as the number of adsorbed water molecules increased. This observation indicates that water molecules were selectively adsorbed on the H+(L-Ala4) side of H+(L-Trp)(L-Ala4) and weakened the intermolecular interactions between L-Trp and H+(L-Ala4) in the hydrogen-bonded cluster.

Quantification of disaccharides in solution using isomer-selective ultraviolet photodissociation of hydrogen-bonded clusters in the gas phase.

Chemical properties of gas-phase hydrogen-bonded clusters were investigated as a model for interstellar molecular clouds. Cold gas-phase hydrogen-bonded clusters of tryptophan (Trp) enantiomers and disaccharide isomers, including d-maltose and d-cellobiose, were generated by electrospray ionization and collisional cooling in an ion trap at 8 K. Product ion spectra in the 265-290 nm wavelength range were obtained using tandem mass spectrometry. NH2CHCOOH loss via the Cα-Cß bond cleavage of Trp occurred frequently in homochiral H+(d-Trp)(d-maltose) compared with heterochiral H+(l-Trp)(d-maltose) at 278 nm, indicating that an enantiomeric excess of l-Trp was formed via the enantiomer-selective photodissociation. The photoreactivity differed between the enantiomers and isomers contained in the clusters at the photoexcitation of 278 nm. A calibration curve for the quantification of disaccharide isomers in solution was constructed by photoexcitation of the hydrogen-bonded clusters of disaccharide isomers with H+(l-Trp) at 278 nm. A linear relationship between the natural logarithm of the relative product ion abundance and the mole fraction of d-maltose to d-cellobiose ratio in the solution was obtained, indicating that the mole fraction could be determined from a single product ion spectrum. A calibration curve, for quantification of Trp enantiomers, was also obtained using d-maltose as a chiral auxiliary.

Gas-Phase Adsorption of N2 on Protonated Molecules and Its Application to the Structural Elucidation of Small Molecules.

The gas-phase adsorption of N2 on protonated serine (Ser, C3H7NO3), threonine (Thr, C4H9NO3), glycine (Gly, C2H5NO2), and 2-aminoethanol (C2H7NO) was investigated using a tandem mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization source and a cold ion trap. N2 molecules were adsorbed on the free X-H (X=O and N) groups of protonated molecules. Gas-phase N2 adsorption-mass spectrometry detected the presence of free X-H groups in the molecular structures, and was applied to the structural elucidation of small molecules. When the 93 structures with an elemental composition of C3H7NO3 were filtered using the gas-phase N2 adsorption-mass spectrometry results for Ser, the number of possible molecular structures was reduced to 8 via the quantification of the X-H groups. Restricting and minimizing the number of possible candidates were effective steps in the structural elucidation process. Gas-phase N2 adsorption-mass spectrometry combined with mass spectrometry-based techniques has the potential for being useful for elucidating the molecular structures of a variety of molecules.

Molecular Adsorption on Cold Gas-Phase Hydrogen-Bonded Clusters of Chiral Molecules.

Gas-phase molecular adsorption was investigated as a model for molecular cloud formation. Molecular adsorption on cold gas-phase hydrogen-bonded clusters containing protonated tryptophan (Trp) enantiomers and monosaccharides such as methyl-α-D-glucoside, D-ribose, and D-arabinose was detected using a tandem mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization source and cold ion trap. The adsorption sites on the surface of cold gas-phase hydrogen-bonded cluster ions were quantified using gas-phase N2 adsorption-mass spectrometry. The gas-phase N2 adsorption experiments indicated that the number of adsorption sites on the surface of the hydrogen-bonded heterochiral clusters containing L-Trp and D-monosaccharides exceeded the number of adsorption sites on the homochiral clusters containing D-Trp and D-monosaccharides. H2O molecules were preferentially adsorbed on the heterochiral clusters, and larger water clusters were formed in the gas phase. Physical and chemical properties of cold gas-phase hydrogen-bonded clusters containing biological molecules were useful for investigating enantiomer selectivity and chemical evolution in interstellar molecular clouds.

Chiral and molecular recognition of monosaccharides by photoexcited tryptophan in cold gas-phase noncovalent complexes as a model for chemical evolution in interstellar molecular clouds.

Chiral and molecular recognition between amino acid and sugar molecules and their implications for chemical evolution were investigated using a tandem mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization source and a cold ion trap. Ultraviolet photodissociation of mass-selected and temperature-controlled gas-phase noncovalent complexes of protonated tryptophan (Trp) and monosaccharide enantiomers, such as aldohexose, aldopentose, and deoxyhexose, was examined as a model for chemical evolution in interstellar molecular clouds. Upon photoexcitation of noncovalent heterochiral H+(L-Trp)(D-aldohexose) complexes, NH2CHCOOH loss from protonated Trp via Cα-Cß bond cleavage occurred. Conversely, in homochiral H+(L-Trp)(L-aldohexose), the energy absorbed by Trp was released through the detachment of aldohexose, and dissociation of the amino acid was suppressed. In the photodissociation mass spectra of protonated Trp with aldopentose and deoxyhexose, which lacks the OH group of aldohexose, no dissociation of the molecules in the complexes or differences between enantiomers were observed. These results indicate that the OH groups in monosaccharides contribute to enantiomer-selective photodissociation in molecular clouds. The differences observed between enantiomers in the photodissociation mass spectra were applied to distinguishing and quantifying aldohexose enantiomers in solution using L-Trp as a chiral probe. The enantiomeric excesses of aldohexoses in solution could be determined from a single photodissociation mass spectrum by reference to the relative ion intensities for the NH2CHCOOH-elimination product and H+(L-Trp) formed via detachment of aldohexose. This analysis method could also distinguish and quantify two D-aldohexose mixtures, where L-Trp was employed as an isomer probe. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

Chiral and Molecular Recognition through Protonation between Aromatic Amino Acids and Tripeptides Probed by Collision-Activated Dissociation in the Gas Phase.

Chiral and molecular recognition through protonation was investigated through the collision-activated dissociation (CAD) of protonated noncovalent complexes of aromatic amino acid enantiomers with l-alanine- and l-serine-containing tripeptides using a linear ion trap mass spectrometer. In the case of l-alanine-tripeptide (AAA), NH3 loss was observed in the CAD of heterochiral H⁺(d-Trp)AAA, while H2O loss was the main dissociation pathways for l-Trp, d-Phe, and l-Phe. The protonation site of heterochiral H⁺(d-Trp)AAA was the amino group of d-Trp, and the NH3 loss occurred from H⁺(d-Trp). The H2O loss indicated that the proton was attached to the l-alanine tripeptide in the noncovalent complexes. With the substitution of a central residue of l-alanine tripeptide to l-Ser, ASA recognized l-Phe by protonation to the amino group of l-Phe in homochiral H⁺(l-Phe)ASA. For the protonated noncovalent complexes of His enantiomers with tripeptides (AAA, SAA, ASA, and AAS), protonated His was observed in the spectra, except for those of heterochiral H⁺(d-His)SAA and H⁺(d-His)AAS, indicating that d-His did not accept protons from the SAA and AAS in the noncovalent complexes. The amino-acid sequences of the tripeptides required for the recognition of aromatic amino acids were determined by analyses of the CAD spectra.

Chiral Recognition in Cold Gas-Phase Cluster Ions of Carbohydrates and Tryptophan Probed by Photodissociation.

Chiral recognition between tryptophan (Trp) and carbohydrates such as D-glucose (D-Glc), methyl-α-D-glucoside (D-glucoside), D-maltose, and D-cellobiose in cold gas-phase cluster ions was investigated as a model for chemical evolution in interstellar molecular clouds using a tandem mass spectrometer containing a cold ion trap. The photodissociation mass spectra of cold gas-phase clusters that contained Na+, Trp enantiomers, and D-maltose showed that Na+(D-Glc) was formed via the glycosidic bond cleavage of D-maltose from photoexcited homochiral Na+(D-Trp)(D-maltose), while the dissociation did not occur in heterochiral Na+(L-Trp)(D-maltose). The enantiomer-selective dissociation was also observed in the case of D-cellobiose. The enantiomer-selective glycosidic bond cleavage of disaccharides suggested that photoexcited D-Trp could prevent chemical evolution of sugar chains from D-enantiomer of carbohydrates in molecular clouds. The spectra of gas-phase clusters that contained Na+, Trp enantiomers, and D-Glc indicated that enantiomer-selective protonation of L-Trp from D-Glc could induce enantiomeric excess via collision-activated dissociation of the protonated L-Trp. In the case of protonated clusters, photoexcited H+(L-Trp) dissociated via Cα-Cß bond cleavage in the presence of D-Glc or D-glucoside, where the excited states of H+(L-Trp) contributed to the enantiomer-selective reaction in the clusters. These enantiomer selectivities in cold gas-phase clusters indicated that chirality of a molecule induced enantiomeric excess of other molecules via enantiomer-selective reactions in molecular clouds.

Enantiomer-Selective Photo-Induced Reaction of Protonated Tryptophan with Disaccharides in the Gas Phase.

In order to investigate chemical evolution in interstellar molecular clouds, enantiomer-selective photo-induced chemical reactions between an amino acid and disaccharides in the gas phase were examined using a tandem mass spectrometer containing an electrospray ionization source and a cold ion trap. Ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectra of cold gas-phase noncovalent complexes of protonated tryptophan (Trp) enantiomers with disaccharides consisting of two D-glucose units, such as D-maltose or D-cellobiose, were obtained by photoexcitation of the indole ring of Trp. NH2CHCOOH loss via cleavage of the Cα-Cß bond in Trp induced by hydrogen atom transfer from the NH3+ group of a protonated Trp was observed in a noncovalent heterochiral H+(L-Trp)(D-maltose) complex. In contrast, a photo-induced chemical reaction forming the product ion with m/z 282 occurs in homochiral H+(D-Trp)(D-maltose). For D-cellobiose, both NH2CHCOOH elimination and the m/z 282 product ion were observed, and no enantiomer-selective phenomena occurred. The m/z 282 product ion indicates that the photo-induced C-glycosylation, which links D-glucose residues to the indole moiety of Trp via a C-C bond, can occur in cold gas-phase noncovalent complexes, and its enantiomer-selectivity depends on the structure of the disaccharide.

Quantitative chiral analysis of amino acids in solution using enantiomer-selective photodissociation of cold gas-phase tryptophan via chiral recognition.

To explore the origin of biomolecule homochirality in interstellar molecular clouds, enantiomer-selective photodissociation via chiral recognition between amino acids in the gas phase was examined using a tandem mass spectrometer containing an electrospray ionization source and a cold ion trap. Ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectra of cold gas-phase noncovalent complexes of sodiated l-tryptophan ion, Na+(l-Trp), with an amino acid such as serine (Ser), threonine (Thr), or alanine (Ala) were obtained by the photo-excitation of l-Trp in the noncovalent complexes. Dissociation of l-Trp via CO2 loss occurred when it was noncovalently complexed with d-Ser or d-Thr in the presence of Na+. For the l-enantiomers, the energy absorbed by l-Trp was released through evaporation of l-Ser or l-Thr, and dissociation of the amino acids was suppressed. In contrast, the enantiomer-selective phenomenon was not observed in the noncovalent complex with Ala, suggesting that a side-chain OH group plays an important role in chiral recognition and enantiomer-selective photodissociation. The enantiomer-selective photodissociation was applied to the quantitative chiral analysis of amino acids. The enantiomeric excess of Ser and Thr in solution could be determined by measuring the relative abundance ratio of the enantiomer-selective photodissociation of Trp to amino acid evaporation in a single photodissociation mass spectrum obtained by photo-excitation of l-Trp used as a chiral probe in cold gas-phase noncovalent complexes with the analyte amino acids, and by referring to the linear relationships established in this work.

Enantioselective Collision-Activated Dissociation of Gas-Phase Tryptophan Induced by Chiral Recognition of Protonated L-Alanine Peptides.

Enantioselective dissociation in the gas phase is important for enantiomeric enrichment and chiral transmission processes in molecular clouds regarding the origin of homochirality in biomolecules. Enantioselective collision-activated dissociation (CAD) of tryptophan (Trp) and the chiral recognition ability of L-alanine peptides (L-Ala n ; n = 2-4) were examined using a linear ion trap mass spectrometer. CAD spectra of gas-phase heterochiral H+(D-Trp)(L-Ala n ) and homochiral H+(L-Trp)(L-Ala n ) noncovalent complexes were obtained as a function of the peptide size n. The H2O-elimination product was observed in CAD spectra of both heterochiral and homochiral complexes for n = 2 and 4, and in homochiral H+(L-Trp)(L-Ala3), indicating that the proton is attached to the L-alanine peptide, and H2O loss occurs from H+(L-Ala n ) in the noncovalent complexes. H2O loss did not occur in heterochiral H+(D-Trp)(L-Ala3), where NH3 loss and (H2O + CO) loss were the primary dissociation pathways. In heterochiral H+(D-Trp)(L-Ala3), the protonation site is the amino group of D-Trp, and NH3 loss and (H2O + CO) loss occur from H+(D-Trp). L-Ala peptides recognize D-Trp through protonation of the amino group for peptide size n = 3. NH3 loss and (H2O + CO) loss from H+(D-Trp) proceeds via enantioselective CAD in gas-phase heterochiral H+(D-Trp)(L-Ala3) at room temperature, whereas L-Trp dissociation was not observed in homochiral H+(L-Trp)(L-Ala3). These results suggest that enantioselective dissociation induced by chiral recognition of L-Ala peptides through protonation could play an important role in enantiomeric enrichment and chiral transmission processes of amino acids.

Enantiomeric Excess Determination for Monosaccharides Using Chiral Transmission to Cold Gas-Phase Tryptophan in Ultraviolet Photodissociation.

Chiral transmission between monosaccharides and amino acids via photodissociation in the gas phase was examined using a tandem mass spectrometer fitted with an electrospray ionization source and a cold ion trap in order to investigate the origin of the homochirality of biomolecules in molecular clouds. Ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectra of cold gas-phase noncovalent complexes of the monosaccharide enantiomers glucose (Glc) and galactose (Gal) with protonated L-tryptophan H+(L-Trp) were obtained by photoexcitation of the indole ring of L-Trp. L-Trp dissociated via Cα-Cß bond cleavage when noncovalently complexed with D-Glc; however, no dissociation of L-Trp occurred in the homochiral H+(L-Trp)(L-Glc) noncovalent complex, where the energy absorbed by L-Trp was released through the evaporation of L-Glc. This enantioselective photodissociation of Trp was due to the transmission of chirality from Glc to Trp via photodissociation in the gas-phase noncovalent complexes, and was applied to the quantitative chiral analysis of monosaccharides. The enantiomeric excess of monosaccharides in solution could be determined by measuring the relative abundance of the two product ions in a single photodissociation mass spectrum of the cold gas-phase noncovalent complex with H+(L-Trp), and by referring to the linear relationships derived in this work. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

Hypervalent radical formation probed by electron transfer dissociation of zwitterionic tryptophan and tryptophan-containing dipeptides complexed with Ca2+ and 18-crown-6 in the gas phase.

The relationship between peptide structure and electron transfer dissociation (ETD) is important for structural analysis by mass spectrometry. In the present study, the formation, structure and reactivity of the reaction intermediate in the ETD process were examined using a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization source. ETD product ions of zwitterionic tryptophan (Trp) and Trp-containing dipeptides (Trp-Gly and Gly-Trp) were detected without reionization using non-covalent analyte complexes with Ca(2+) and 18-crown-6 (18C6). In the collision-induced dissociation, NH3 loss was the main dissociation pathway, and loss related to the dissociation of the carboxyl group was not observed. This indicated that Trp and its dipeptides on Ca(2+) (18C6) adopted a zwitterionic structure with an NH3 (+) group and bonded to Ca(2+) (18C6) through the COO(-) group. Hydrogen atom loss observed in the ETD spectra indicated that intermolecular electron transfer from a molecular anion to the NH3 (+) group formed a hypervalent ammonium radical, R-NH3 , as a reaction intermediate, which was unstable and dissociated rapidly through N-H bond cleavage. In addition, N-Cα bond cleavage forming the z1 ion was observed in the ETD spectra of Trp-GlyCa(2+) (18C6) and Gly-TrpCa(2+) (18C6). This dissociation was induced by transfer of a hydrogen atom in the cluster formed via an N-H bond cleavage of the hypervalent ammonium radical and was in competition with the hydrogen atom loss. The results showed that a hypervalent radical intermediate, forming a delocalized hydrogen atom, contributes to the backbone cleavages of peptides in ETD.

Enantioselective photolysis and quantitative chiral analysis of tryptophan complexed with alkali-metalized L-serine in the gas phase.

The enantioselective photolysis of a cold gas-phase noncovalent complex of tryptophan with alkali-metalized L-serine, M(+) (L-Ser)(Trp) (M = Na and Li), was examined using a tandem mass spectrometer containing a variable-temperature ion trap. CO2 loss from Trp in the clusters was enantiomerically selective in ultraviolet excitation with linearly polarized light. M(+) (L-Ser) promoted the enantioselective photolysis of Trp as a chiral auxiliary. The enantioselective photolysis of the D-enantiomer was applied to a quantitative chiral analysis, in which the optical purity of tryptophan could be determined by measuring the relative abundance ratio R of the enantioselective CO2 loss to the chiral-independent evaporation of L-Ser in a single photodissociation mass spectrum of M(+) (L-Ser)(Trp).

Enantiomer-selective photolysis of cold gas-phase tryptophan in L-serine clusters with linearly polarized light.

Photostability of cold gas-phase tryptophan (Trp) enantiomers in L-serine (L-Ser) clusters at 8 K as a model for interstellar molecular clouds was examined using a tandem mass spectrometer containing a cold ion trap to investigate the hypothesis that homochirality in gas-phase Ser clusters promotes the enantiomeric enrichment of other amino acids via enantiomer-selective photolysis with linearly polarized light. In the UV excitation of heterochiral H(+) (L-Ser) 3(D-Trp), the CO2-eliminated product in the cluster was observed. In contrast, the photodissociation mass spectrum of homochiral H(+)(L-Ser)3(L-Trp) showed that photolysis of amino acids in the cluster did not occur due to the evaporation of L-Ser molecules. In the spectra of the homochiral H(+)(L-Ser) (L-Trp) and heterochiral H(+)(L-Ser) (D-Trp), the evaporation of L-Ser was the primary reaction pathway, and no difference between the L- and D-enantiomers was observed. The findings confirm that when 3 L-Ser units are present in the cluster, the photolytic decomposition of Trp is enantiomerically selective.