Host-guest hydrogen atom transfer induced by electron capture

1,n-Alkanediammonium cations in noncovalent complexes with two dibenzo-18-crown-6-ether (DBCE) ligands undergo an unusual intramolecular tandem hydrogen atom and proton transfer to the crown ether ligand upon charge reduction by electron capture. Deuterium labeling established that both migrating hydrogens originated from the ammonium groups. The double hydrogen transfer was found to depend on the length of the alkane chain connecting the ammonium groups. Ab initio calculations provided structures for select alkanediammonium·dibenzo-18-crown-6-ether complexes and dissociation products. This first observation of an intra-complex hydrogen transfer is explained by the unusual electronic properties of the complexes and the substantial hydrogen atom affinity of the aromatic rings in the crown ligand.     

Observation of an unusually facile fragmentation pathway of gas-phase peptide ions: a study on the gas-phase fragmentation mechanism and energetics of tryptic peptides modified with 4-sulfophenyl isothiocyanate (SPITC) and 4-chlorosulfophenyl isocyanate (SPC) and their 18-crown-6 complexes

Various peptide modifications have been explored recently to facilitate the acquisition of sequence information. N-terminal sulfonation is an interesting modification because it allows unambiguous de novo sequencing of peptides, especially in conjunction with MALDI-PSD-TOF analysis; such modified peptide ions undergo fragmentation at energies lower than those required conventionally for unmodified peptide ions. In this study, we systematically investigated the fragmentation mechanisms of N-terminal sulfonated peptide ions prepared using two different N-terminal sulfonation reagents: 4-sulfophenyl isothiocyanate (SPITC) and 4-chlorosulfophenyl isocyanate (SPC). Collision-induced dissociation (CID) of the SPC-modified peptide ions produced a set of y-series ions that were more evenly distributed relative to those observed for the SPITC-modified peptides; y(n-1) ion peaks were consistently and significantly larger than the signals of the other y-ions. We experimentally investigated the differences between the dissociation energies of the SPITC- and SPC-modified peptide ions by comparing the MS/MS spectra of the complexes formed between the crown ether 18-crown-6 (CE) and the modified peptides. Upon CID, the complexes formed between 18-crown-6 ether and the protonated amino groups of C-terminal lysine residues underwent either peptide backbone fragmentation or complex dissociation. Although the crown ether complexes of the unmodified ([M + CE + 2H]2+) and SPC-modified ([M* + CE + 2H]2+) peptides underwent predominantly noncovalent complex dissociation upon CID, the low-energy dissociations of the crown ether complexes of the SPITC-modified peptides ([M' + CE + 2H]2+) unexpectedly resulted in peptide backbone fragmentations, along with a degree of complex dissociation. We performed quantum mechanical calculations to address the energetics of fragmentations observed for the modified peptides.     

Solid-emissive rhodamine: hydrogen bonding-assisted efficient intermolecular fluorescence resonance energy transfer in the solid state

Solid-emissive rhodamine complexes are obtained by mixing commercial rhodamine B (RhB) with the recently developed solid-emissive boron 2-(2′-pyridyl)imidazole (BOPIM) derivatives. The formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between RhB and BOPIM dyes plays a key role in the emission of RhB in the solid state. The disappearance of emissions from BOPIM dyes indicates the occurrence of efficient intermolecular fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). The hydrogen bond also helps prevent the intermolecular interaction between the carboxyl moieties on RhB to alleviate concentration-induced fluorescence quenching because the emission of the complexes can be directly lightened by excitation at the RhB absorption (510 nm). Our results indicate that intermolecular FRET assisted by non-covalent interactions can be an efficient tool for constructing red or near-infrared solid emitters.     

Hydrogen-bonding interactions in gas-phase polyether/ammonium ion complexes

Hydrogen bonds are among the most important interactions involved in selective complexation in host-guest chemistry. In this study a variety of hydrogen-bonded crown ether/ammonium ion complexes are generated in the gas phase by association reactions between an amine substrate and a polyether, one of which is initially protonated, and stabilized by many collisions in the chemical ionlzation source of a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer or in a quadrupole ion trap. The nature of the hydrogen-bonding interactions of the ion complexes are evaluated by comparison of their collision-activated dissociation spectra. After collisional activation, those complexes that are weakly bound dissociate to form intact protonated polyether molecules and/or ammonium ions by simple cleavages of the hydrogen-bond association interactions. In contrast, those complexes strongly bound by multiple hydrogen bonds dissociate not only to the protonated polyether and/or ammonium ions but also by extensive covalent bond cleavage of the protonated ether skeleton.This latter type of dissociation behavior suggests that the polyether/ammonium ion complexes may be sufficiently strongly bound that surpassing the high barrier to decomposition results in formation of internally excited polyether molecules that may then undergo subsequent fragmentation by skeletal cleavages. Moreover, complexes involving multiple hydrogen bonds may have slower dissociation kinetics, allowing competition from fast dissociation processes that have substantial energy barriers.     

A quantitative study of intrinsic non-covalent interactions within complexes of α-cyclodextrin and benzoate derivatives

A novel deconvolution method for energy-resolved reaction cross sections is applied to determine intrinsic gas-phase dissociation energies for non-covalent α-cyclodextrin host-guest complexes. M06-2X//M06-L/6-31+G(d,p) calculations reproduce the experimental results and enable us to quantify the contribution of intermolecular hydrogen bonding.     

Synthesis and infrared and fluorescence spectral properties of luminescent terbium and europium complexes with open-chain carboxylate crown ethers

Two open-chain carboxylate crown ether ligands and their terbium(III) and europium(III) complexes were synthesized and characterized. The terbium and europium ions were found to coordinate to the carboxylate oxygens. The fluorescence properties of europium complexes in the solid state and terbium complexes in the solid state and in the organic solvent were studied in detail, respectively. Under the excitation of ultraviolet light, strong green fluorescence of solid terbium complexes and red fluorescence of solid europium complexes were observed. These observations show that the two ligands favor energy transfer to the emitting energy level of Tb(3+). Some factors that influencing the fluorescent intensity were also discussed.     

Regioselective Long‐Range Proton Transfer in New Rifamycin Antibiotics: A Process in which Crown Ethers Act as Stronger Brønsted Bases than Amines

Water‐mediated proton transfer in six new derivatives of 3‐formylrifamycin SV that contain crown, aza‐crown, and benzo‐crown ether rings were investigated by FTIR and NMR spectroscopy. ¹H–¹H COSY couplings provide evidence for the formation of zwitterionic structures of the aza‐crown and crown ether derivatives of rifamycin, in which a proton from one of the phenolic groups is transferred to tertiary and secondary nitrogen atoms. The increased intensity of the continuous absorption in the mid‐infrared region together with the NMR data indicate proton transfer from the phenol group of the rifamycin core to the cavity of the benzo‐crown ether ring. This proton transfer is achieved by formation of hydronium (H₃O⁺) or Zundel ions (H₅O₂⁺), which form intermolecular hydrogen bonds with the oxygen atoms of the crown ether. DFT calculations are in agreement with the spectroscopic data and allow visualization of the structures of all new rifamycin derivatives, characterized by different intramolecular protonation sites.     

Gas-phase complexation of polyethers with halide ions

Gas-phase complexes of halide anions with a variety of crown ethers and acyclic analogs are formed by ion-molecule reactions in the chemical ionization source of a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer. The ether complexes of iodide, bromide, and chloride dissociate on collisional activation by cleavage of the halide-ether electrostatic hydrogen bonds, resulting in the formation of bare halide anions. By contrast, the fluoride complexes dissociate by loss of HF, which may occur in conjunction or sequentially with losses of ethylene oxide units. This dissociation behavior is similar to that observed for collisionally activated dissociation of [M ? H]^? ions of the crown ethers and suggests that the fluoride ion is capable of promoting an intramolecular proton abstraction within the [M+F]^? complex. This type of dissociation chemistry is only observed for the fluoride ion complexes, and the fluoride ion is the most basic of all the halides. The kinetic method was used to establish orders of relative halide binding strengths, and the trends for the chloride and bromide affinities were 12-crown-4 < triethylene glycol dimethyl ether < 15-crown-5 < tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether < 18-crown-6 < 21-crown-7 < tetraethylene glycol < pentaethylene glycol < 1,4,7,10,13-pentathiacyclopentadecane.     

Recoordination of a metal ion in the cavity of a crown compound: a theoretical study. 1. Conformers of arylazacrown ethers and their complexes with Ca2+ cation

Photoinduced recoordination of Ca²⁺ complexes of the photochromic azacrown ethers is studied by the density functional method. The study included model arylazacrown ethers containing various acceptor groups in the aromatic ring in the para position to the azacrown ether moiety and a real azacrown-containing styryl dye. It is found that both free azacrown ethers and their complexes can adopt two types of conformations: (1) axial conformations, in which the aromatic ring axis passing through the crown ether nitrogen N_cr and the opposite atom of the aromatic ring is perpendicular to the root-mean-square (RMS) plane of the crown ether (least-squares fitted plane for all the crown ether atoms), and (2) equatorial conformations, in which the aromatic ring axis only slightly deflects from the RMS plane of the crown ether. In the equatorial conformers, the metal cation is coordinated only to the O atoms of the azacrown ether cycle, the metal—nitrogen bond is broken, and N_cr is conjugated with the aromatic ring. In the axial conformers, the metal cation is additionally coordinated to N_cr. It is found that the presence of an acceptor group bearing a formal positive charge decreases the relative energy of the equatorial conformer and favors metal—nitrogen bond dissociation, which results in the recoordination of the metal cation. However, a long distance between the charged group and N_cr has the reverse effect. The photoinduced recoordination observed in the alkaline-earth metal complexes of the photochromic azacrown ethers is explained by the transitions between the axial and equatorial conformers facilitated by the charge transfer in the excited state of the complex.     

Transmetalation of arylpalladium and platinum complexes. Mechanism and factors to control the reaction

This article reviews recent studies on intra- and intermolecular transfer of the aryl ligand bonded to Pd(II) and Pt(II). Cationic arylpalladium complexes with bpy and THF ligands undergo intermolecular aryl group transfer to produce biaryl via a diarylpalladium intermediate. This reaction is applied to cyclization of cationic dinuclear arylpalladium complexes, affording the crown ether derivative with biphenylene units. Analogous arylplatinum complexes do not form diaryl complexes via transmetalation, while they react with CO and phenylallene to cause replacement of the coordinated solvent and insertion of the small molecules into the Pt–C bond, respectively. Conproportionation of PtCl₂(cod) and PtPh₂(cod) produces PtCl(Ph)(cod), which is induced by dissociation of a Cl ligand from the former complex. PtCl₂(cod) reacts also with diarylplatinum complexes with bpy and dppe. Disproportionation of PtPh(CH₂COMe)(cod) and conproportionation of PtPh₂(cod) and Pt(CH₂COMe)₂(cod) take place at 50 °C, but the rates of apparently reversible reactions differ from each other. Addition of OH⁻ to a solution of PtI(Ph)(cod) causes intermolecular phenyl ligand transfer to produce PtPh₂(cod). The dinuclear intermediate complex with bridging OH ligand is prepared from an independent route and fully characterized. The complex causes transmetalation of aryl group of aryl boronic acid.     

Crowning Proteins: Modulating the Protein Surface Properties using Crown Ethers

Crown ethers are small, cyclic polyethers that have found wide‐spread use in phase‐transfer catalysis and, to a certain degree, in protein chemistry. Crown ethers readily bind metallic and organic cations, including positively charged amino acid side chains. We elucidated the crystal structures of several protein‐crown ether co‐crystals grown in the presence of 18‐crown‐6. We then employed biophysical methods and molecular dynamics simulations to compare these complexes with the corresponding apoproteins and with similar complexes with ring‐shaped low‐molecular‐weight polyethylene glycols. Our studies show that crown ethers can modify protein surface behavior dramatically by stabilizing either intra‐ or intermolecular interactions. Consequently, we propose that crown ethers can be used to modulate a wide variety of protein surface behaviors, such as oligomerization, domain–domain interactions, stabilization in organic solvents, and crystallization.     

Solvation-thermodynamic effects of the water-methanol solvent on the coordination of Na+, K+, NH 4 + , and Ag+ ions with 18-crown-6: Gibbs energies of complexation and resolvation of reagents

The results of solvation-thermodynamic monitoring of aqueous-methanol solutions of electrolytes (NaCl, KCl, NH₄Cl, AgNO₃) and 18-crown-6 ether (L) in the mole fraction scale are summarized and systematized. The stability of sodium mono(crown ether) complexes in water-methanol solvents is due to both enthalpy and entropy contributions, and the stability of the ammonium and silver complexes, to the enthalpy contribution. The solvent effects in formation of crown ether complexes of sodium, potassium, ammonium, and silver are subjected to solvation-thermodynamic and correlation analyses. An equation is suggested for estimating the ion selectivity of crown ethers, and the contributions of energy constituents (the Gibbs energy of transfer of reagents) to varation of the ion selectivity of 18-crown-6 toward M-Na⁺ pairs in the water-methanol solvent are revealed.     

Selectivity in supramolecular host-guest complexes

The background of possible selectivity-affinity correlations and their limitations is reviewed, with typical crown ether and cryptand complexes, ionic associations, hydrogen bonded complexes and complexes driven by van der Waals, stacking or hydrophobic interactions, with some additional topics including associations based on metal coordination as supplementary material. This tutorial review is addressed to students and researchers interested in molecular recognition, and relates to the design of sensors, of discriminators for separation processes, of supramolecular devices and of drug compounds. A theoretical analysis of selectivity in supramolecular host-guest complexes, defined as a difference in binding free energies for structurally related guests, as a function of total binding free energy shows that for certain types of intermolecular interactions one may observe a correlation between selectivity and affinity. Such correlation fails however if the selectivity is due to additional interactions at a secondary binding sites, which is expected in complexes with anisotropic guest molecules. Several clear examples of theoretically expected selectivity-affinity correlations are found. The influence of reaction conditions on the experimentally observed selectivity, defined as a difference in complexation degrees with different guests in the presence of added receptor, is illustrated. The importance of often neglected solvent effects on selectivity is exemplified with ionophore and hydrogen bonded complexes.     

Selective molecular recognition of arginine by anionic salt bridge formation with bis-phosphate crown ethers: implications for gas phase peptide acidity from adduct dissociation

Arginine forms a stable noncovalent anionic salt bridge complex with DP (a crown ether which contains two endocyclic dialkylhydrogenphosphate esters). Abundant adduct formation with DP is observed for complexes with arginine, YAKR, HPPGFSPFR, AAKRKAA, RR, RPPGFSPFR, RYLGYL, RGDS, and YGGFMRGL in electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) experiments. DFT calculations predict a hydrogen bonded salt bridge structure with a protonated guanidinium flanked by two deprotonated phosphates to be the lowest energy structure. Dissociation of DP/peptide adducts reveals that, in general, the relative gas phase acidity of a peptide is dependent on peptide length, with longer peptides being more acidic. In particular, peptides that are six residues or more in length can stabilize the deprotonated C-terminus by extensive hydrogen bonding with the peptide backbone. Dissociation of DP/peptide complexes often yields the deprotonated peptide, allowing for the facile formation of anionic peptides that otherwise would be difficult to generate in high abundance. Although DP has a preference for binding to arginine residues in peptides, DP is also observed to form less abundant complexes with peptides containing multiple lysines. Lys-Xxx-Lys and Lys-Lys sequences form low abundance anionic adducts with DP. For example, KKKK exclusively forms a double adduct with one net negative charge on the complex.     

Molecular Interactions of Macrocycles with Dipeptides in Aqueous Solutions. Partial Molar Volumes and Heat Capacities of Transfer of a Chiral 18-Crown-6 and of a Calix[4]resorcinarene Derivative from Water to Aqueous Dipeptide Solutions at 25°C

Densities and specific heat capacities of ternary aqueous systems containing a dipeptide (alanyl-alanine, alanyl-glutamic acid, alanyl-serine or L-seryl-L-leucine) and a macrocycle (D--manno-naphtho-18-crown-6-ether or 2,8,14,20-tetrakis[-methyl (aminoformyl)]-4,6,10,12,16,18,22,24-octahydroxycalix[4]arene) were determined at 25°C by flow densimetry and flow calorimetry. The partial molar volume and heat capacity of transfer of a macrocycle from water to the dipeptide solution was determined as a function of the dipeptide concentration. Positive values for transfer volumes and transfer heat capacities are observed with all the solutions studied. With the crown ether, except for alanyl-glutamic acid where a 1:1 complex is clearly evidenced due to specific interactions of the side-chain functional group of the peptide with the crown ether, no stoichiometric complexes are confirmed and the partial molar quantities of transfer increase with the hydrophobic character of the dipeptide. Partial quantities of transfer are smaller with the calixarene than with the crown ether and stoichiometric complexes [calixarene]/[dipeptide] from 2:1 to 1:4 are evidenced, depending on the nature and the concentration of the dipeptide.     

Alkali-metal ion complexation with lariat ethers possessing a chromogenic group

The extraction and complexation abilities of chromogenic alkyl crown-ether reagents were compared with those of their chromogenic benzo crown ether analogues. Improvements in the extraction efficiency and stability of the complexes were observed, and can be attributed to various factors such as increased lipophilic character and decreased charge separation. The spectral separation caused by the deprotonation of the amine-group was significantly decreased, so the usefulness of these compounds will be limited, until improved spectral separation can be achieved.     

Gas-phase binding of non-covalent protein complexes between bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor and its target enzymes studied by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

The potential of electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry (MS) to detect non-covalent protein complexes has been demonstrated repeatedly. However, questions about correlation of the solution and gas-phase structures of these complexes still produce vigorous scientific discussion. Here, we demonstrate the evaluation of the gas-phase binding of non-covalent protein complexes formed between bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) and its target enzymes over a wide range of dissociation constants. Non-covalent protein complexes were detected by ESI-MS. The abundance of the complex ions in the mass spectra is less than expected from the values of the dissociation constants of the complexes in solution. Collisionally activated dissociation (CAD) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and a collision model for ion activation were used to evaluate the binding of non-covalent complexes in the gas phase. The internal energy required to induce dissociation was calculated for three collision gases (Ne, Ar, Kr) over a wide range of collision gas pressures and energies using an electrospray ionization source. The order of binding energies of the gas-phase ions for non-covalent protein complexes formed by the ESI source and assessed using CAD-MS/MS appears to differ from that of the solution complexes. The implication is that solution structure of these complexes was not preserved in the gas phase.     

Synthesis and infrared and fluorescence spectra of rare earth complexes with a novel amide-based ligand

A novel amide-based open-chain crown ether, N,N'-1,3-propanediyl-bis[2-(benzyl -carbamoyl-methoxy)-benzamide] (L) and its solid complexes with rare earth nitrates and picrates have been prepared. The complexes were characterized by elemental analyses, molar conductivity and IR spectra. The fluorescence properties of the Eu(III) and Tb(III) complexes in solid and in organic solvents were studied. Under the excitation of ultraviolet light, these complexes exhibit characteristic emission of europium and terbium ions. The results show that the ligand favor energy transfers to the emitting energy level of Tb(III). Some factors that influence the fluorescent intensity were also discussed.     

Crown ether complexes with H₃O⁺ and NH₄⁺: proton localization and proton bridge formation

The complexes formed by crown ethers with hydronium and ammonium cations are of key relevance for the understanding of their supramolecular behavior in protic solvents. In this work, the complexes of the 15-crown-5 (15c5) and 18-crown-6 (18c6) ethers with H?O? and NH?? and their deuterated variants are investigated under isolated conditions. The study employs infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) vibrational spectroscopy and DFT B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) calculations for conformational assignment. The 18c6 ether provides two energetically nearby C(3v) conformations with commensurate linear O-H···O and N-H···O bonds. The 15c5 ether ring adopts partially folded asymmetric pyramidal geometries, yielding one shorter linear H bond and two longer non-linear H bonds. Remarkably, an appreciable broadening of the IRMPD vibrational bands is observed for the 15c5-H?O?/D?O? complexes. This can be interpreted as a signature for partial sharing of the proton (or deuteron) between the water and the crown ether along the linear O-H···O intermolecular H bond, which is indeed particularly short for this complex.