Liquid-jet photoemission spectroscopy as a structural tool: site-specific acid-base chemistry of vitamin C.

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).

How Does Mg Interact with ATP? Biomolecular Structure through the Lens of Liquid-Jet Photoemission Spectroscopy.

Liquid-jet photoemission spectroscopy (LJ-PES) allows for a direct probing of electronic structure in aqueous solutions. We show the applicability of the approach to biomolecules in a complex environment, exploring site-specific information on the interaction of adenosine triphosphate in the aqueous phase (ATP) with magnesium (Mg), highlighting the synergy brought about by the simultaneous analysis of different regions in the photoelectron spectrum. In particular, we demonstrate intermolecular Coulombic decay (ICD) spectroscopy as a new and powerful addition to the arsenal of techniques for biomolecular structure investigation.

Unveiling the Borohydride Ion through Force-Field Development.

The borohydride ion, BH, is an essential reducing agent in many technological processes, yet its full understanding has been elusive, because of at least two significant challenges. One challenge arises from its marginal stability in aqueous solutions outside of basic pH conditions, which considerably limits the experimental thermodynamic data. The other challenge comes from its unique and atypical hydration shell, stemming from the negative excess charge on its hydrogen atoms, which complicates the accurate modeling in classical atomistic simulations.

Specific versus Nonspecific Solvent Interactions of a Biomolecule in Water.

Solvent interactions, particularly hydration, are vital in chemical and biochemical systems. Model systems reveal microscopic details of such interactions. We uncover a specific hydrogen-bonding motif of the biomolecular building block indole (CHN), tryptophan's chromophore, in water: a strong localized N-H···OH hydrogen bond, alongside unstructured solvent interactions.

Redox Potentials with COSMO-RS: Systematic Benchmarking with Different Databases.

Recent techniques of computational electrochemistry can yield redox potentials with accuracy as good as 0.1 V. Yet, many such methods are not universal, easy to use, or computationally efficient.

Following in Emil Fischer's Footsteps: A Site-Selective Probe of Glucose Acid-Base Chemistry.

Liquid-jet photoelectron spectroscopy was applied to determine the first acid dissociation constant (p) of aqueous-phase glucose while simultaneously identifying the spectroscopic signature of the respective deprotonation site. Valence spectra from solutions at pH values below and above the first p reveal a change in glucose's lowest ionization energy upon the deprotonation of neutral glucose and the subsequent emergence of its anionic counterpart. Site-specific insights into the solution-pH-dependent molecular structure changes are also shown to be accessible via C 1s photoelectron spectroscopy.

Solvation energies of ions with ensemble cluster-continuum approach.

Solvation free energies can be advantageously estimated by cluster-continuum approaches. They proved useful especially for systems with high charge density. However, the clusters are assumed to be single minimum rigid species.

Electronic circular dichroism for the detection of microalbuminuria.

Over the past decades, chiroptical spectroscopy has proved its incomparable ability to elucidate the structure and spatial arrangement of chiral molecules. Systematic analysis of biomolecules in the natural environment of biofluids, however, remains challenging. In this study, we used chiroptical spectroscopy to monitor urinary levels of human serum albumin.