Modeling the Histidine-Phenylalanine Interaction: The NH···π Hydrogen Bond of Imidazole·Benzene.

NH···π hydrogen bonds occur frequently between the amino acid side groups in proteins and peptides. Data-mining studies of protein crystals find that ∼80% of the T-shaped histidine···aromatic contacts are CH···π, and only ∼20% are NH···π interactions. We investigated the infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) spectra of the supersonic-jet-cooled imidazole·benzene (Im·Bz) complex as a model for the NH···π interaction between histidine and phenylalanine.

Structure and intermolecular vibrations of perylene·trans-1,2-dichloroethene, a weak charge-transfer complex.

The vibronic spectra of strong charge-transfer complexes are often congested or diffuse and therefore difficult to analyze. We present the spectra of the π-stacked complex perylene trans-1,2-dichloroethene, which is in the limit of weak charge transfer, the electronic excitation remaining largely confined to the perylene moiety. The complex is formed in a supersonic jet, and its S0 ↔ S1 spectra are investigated by two-color resonant two-photon ionization (2C-R2PI) and fluorescence spectroscopies.

N-H···π hydrogen-bonding and large-amplitude tipping vibrations in jet-cooled pyrrole-benzene.

The N-H···π hydrogen bond is an important intermolecular interaction in many biological systems. We have investigated the infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) spectra of the supersonic-jet cooled complex of pyrrole with benzene and benzene-d(6) (Pyr·Bz, Pyr·Bz-d(6)). DFT-D density functional, SCS-MP2 and SCS-CC2 calculations predict a T-shaped and (almost) C(s) symmetric structure with an N-H···π hydrogen bond to the benzene ring.

Large-amplitude vibrations of an N-H...pi hydrogen bonded cis-amide-benzene complex.

The ground-state N-H...

Strong N-H...pi hydrogen bonding in amide-benzene interactions.

Among the weak intermolecular interactions found in proteins, the amide N--H...