Acid-base properties of lyophilized powders of L-histidine have been systematically investigated using parent solutions at pH varying from 1.8 to 10. For the first time, high-resolution solid-state 13C NMR was shown to allow separate observation of all three acid-base pairs in the successive deprotonations of the carboxylic end, the imidazolium cation, and the terminal ammonio group of histidine. 1H CRAMPS NMR spectra directly visualize the absence of the N3-H(pi) tautomer in neutral and anionic species. Solid-state titration shifts are enlarged by approximately 1-4 ppm with respect to those measured in solution, permitting unambiguous observation of conjugate acid-base pairs. Calculated pK's from solid-state acid-to-base ratios r are found equal to those classically measured in solution at 0 degrees C with a similar ionic strength of 0.1 mol x dm(-3). This proves that natural-abundance 13C solid-state determinations of r can be used to measure pK's in parent solutions without recourse to full titration curves and subsequent curve-fitting procedures. Such an approach also leads to noninvasive characterizations of the acidity of lyophilized powders, i.e., to the prediction of in situ pH of products obtained after rehydration and solubilization of powders. These results show the possibility of measuring the pK of nonvolatile acidic substrates dissolved in any sublimable solvent through lyophilization of the investigated solutions; this leads the way to pH and pK determinations when electrochemical or spectrophotometric measurements are impossible or ambiguous, e.g., for concentrated solutions, polyacids, or mixtures of acidic solutes, and possibly to the establishment of pK scales in nonaqueous solvents and in melts.

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The macro- and microprotonations of glycylglycylhistamine (GGHA) have been determined by combined potentiometric and 1H-NMR methods. The complexation of GGHA with Co(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II) has been studied by potentiometric, EPR, and 1H-NMR methods. In the pH range 3−11.2, more or less deprotonated monomeric complexes (MLH, ML, MLH- 1, MLH- 2, MLH- 3) formed in all systems. In the case of Ni(II) and Cu(II) at physiological pH, the MLH- 2 species is predominant with four nitrogen coordination sites (one amino, two peptide, and one imidazole-N3 nitrogens) in square planar arrangement. In Co(II) containing systems however, CoL is the predominant complex near pH 7 with a macrochelate coordination of terminal amino and imidazole nitrogens, while CoLH- 2 species forms at much higher pH. In accordance with NMR measurements, the formation of MLH- 3 species can be assigned to the further deprotonation of the N1-pyrrolic nitrogen in the imidazole ring without metal coordination. The formation constants determined were compared with those of the analogous histidine derivatives. Single-crystal X-ray analysis of CuLH- 2·3H2O verified the expected four nitrogen coordination in the equatorial plane of Cu(II).

Equilibrium (pH-metric) and spectroscopic (1H,13C, and 119Sn NMR and 119Sn Mössbauer) studies were performed to characterize the interaction of the dimethyltin(IV) cation with glycine, glycyl-glycine (Gly-Gly), imidazole-4-acetic acid, histamine, histidine, glycyl-histamine, glycyl-histidine (Gly-His), and β-alanyl-histidine (carnosine). For histamine and glycyl-histamine (having only nitrogen donor atoms) no complex formation was detected. The hydrolyzed species of the dimethyltin(IV) cation are always dominant over the complexes formed with the other ligands, except with Gly-Gly and Gly-His. For these two ligands, {COO-,N-,NH2} coordinated complexes are dominant in the neutral pH range with a trigonal bipyramidal structure, providing the first example that alkyltin(IV) cations are able to promote the deprotonation of the peptide-nitrogen in aqueous solutions, at unexpectedly low pH. In this process the carboxylate is the anchoring group (assisting by chelate formation), in contrast with any other metal ions which are known to coordinate to amide nitrogen. The metal coordination of the imidazole ring, which is suggested as binding site toward alkyltin(IV) cation in several proteins, was not observed for Gly-His under the conditions used; it is probably the case for the other ligands, too.

The complexation of lanthanum(III), europium(III), dysprosium(III), erbium(III), and lutetium(III) with D‐gluconic acid (LH) was studied by pH potentiometry and NMR. The set of complexes formed in aqueous solutions and their stability constants β were determined, and the results were compared to those previously found for praseodymium(III) (S. Giroux et al., Polyhedron 2000, 19, 1567). A regular evolution of the β values was observed along the lanthanide series, particularly for the neutral complex MLH−2 (where two hydroxy functions were deprotonated) with a selectivity similar to that of EDTA. For the ML2+ complex, where the ligand was coordinated via the carboxylate groups, the analysis of the 13C NMR pseudo‐contact shift showed that the carboxylate group was not bidentate and that there was a participation of the α‐hydroxy group in the coordination. The study of the complexation of PrIII with other hydroxy carboxylic acids: glyceric, threonic, 2‐hydroxybutanoic, and 3‐hydroxybutanoic acids confirms that in the complex MLH−2 the deprotonated hydroxy groups, that intervene in the coordination with the metal ion, are those in α and γ positions relative to the carboxylate group. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2002)

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The effects of deprotonation on the (13)C and (31)P chemical shielding tensors of L-O-phosphoserine are revealed by using solid-state NMR spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. The characteristic changes in some principal elements of the (13)C and (31)P chemical shift tensors have been detected during successive steps of deprotonation of carboxyl, phosphate, and amide functional groups. The calculations carried out in a polarizable continuum taking into account the effects of the surroundings have shown their ability to reproduce correctly the changes of the principal values induced by deprotonation and to provide precious information, which is very difficult to obtain experimentally, about the concurrent changes in the orientation of chemical shielding tensors in the molecular frame. The experimentally observed subtle effects related to the deprotonation-induced modifications of intermolecular contacts involving hydrogen bonding as well as the influence of counterions on the (13)C and (31)P principal elements of the chemical shift tensors are also discussed.

The solubilization of octylamidotartaric acid (C8T) and octanoic acid (C8C) in Triton X-100 and Brij 58 nonionic micelles has been studied by pHmetric and 1H NMR self-diffusion experiments. As both C8C and C8T exhibit acid-base properties, a distinction between the partition of the neutral acidic form, in terms of the partition coefficient KPH, and the partition of the charged basic form, in terms of the partition coefficient KP-, has been made. The acidity constants, Ka, of C8T and C8C in the presence of micelles have been evaluated from pHmetric experiments. For both solutes, an increase in the pKa is observed in micellar media due to the difference in the partition of acidic and basic forms of the solutes. A model has been developed to determine KPH and KP- from the pKa shifts observed. The values obtained by this pKa shift modeling method and those from self-diffusion coefficient measurements are in good agreement. The acidic form of C8C is incorporated to a larger extent into the Brij 58 micelles than the acidic form of C8T, whereas the opposite trend is observed for the basic forms. Both the acidic and basic forms of C8T are more easily incorporated into Brij 58 micelles than into Triton X-100 micelles. The influence of the structure of the polar head on the solubilization properties is demonstrated. Moreover, evidence for the localization of the solutes in the micelles is obtained from the comparison of the partition coefficients and from 1H NMR data.