Gas phase protonated guanine-cytosine (CGH) pair was generated using an electrospray ionization source from solutions at two different pH (5.8 and 3.2). Consistent evidence from MS/MS fragmentation patterns and differential ion mobility spectra (DIMS) point toward the presence of two isomers of the CGH pair, whose relative populations depend strongly on the pH of the solution. Gas phase infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy in the 900-1900 cm spectral range further confirms that the Watson-Crick isomer is preferentially produced (91%) at pH = 5.8, while the Hoogsteen isomer predominates (66%) at pH = 3.2). These fingerprint signatures are expected to be useful for the development of new analytical methodologies and to trigger isomer selective photochemical studies of protonated DNA base pairs.

An experimental and theoretical study of the photoionization energies (IE's) of Ba(H(2)O)(n) clusters containing up to n = 4 water molecules has been performed. The clusters were generated by a pick-up source combining laser vaporization with pulsed supersonic expansion, and then photoionized by radiation of 272.5-340 nm. The experimentally determined IE(e)'s for n = 1 to 4 are 4.56 ± 0.05, 4.26 ± 0.05, 3.90 ± 0.05 and 3.71 ± 0.05 eV. This cluster size dependence of IE is reproduced within ±0.06 eV employing the mPW1PW91 density-functional and CCSD(T, Full) quantum-chemical methods combined with the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set for the H and O atoms and three different relativistic effective core potentials for Ba atoms. The calculations indicate that the lowest energy hydration structures represent the most relevant contributions to both the vertical and adiabatic ionization energies. Experimental and theoretical evidence correlates with the progressive surface-delocalization of the electron from the hydration cavity around the Ba atom and suggests that the intra-cluster electron transfer is possible even for small aggregates.

The ionization energies (IE e´s)Altogether, the present evidence suggests for the initial steps of the BaOH hydration process to be dominated by electrostatic and polarization interactions between the Ba + and OH -ion cores, which become both increasingly solvated upon sequential addition of water molecules.

The structure of peptide fragments was studied using "action" IR spectroscopy. We report on room temperature IR spectra of b4 fragments of protonated GGGGG, AAAAA, and YGGFL in the X-H (X = C, N, O) stretching region. Experiments were performed with a tandem mass spectrometer combined with a table top tunable laser, and the multiple photon absorption process was assisted using an auxiliary high-power CO2 laser. These experiments provided well-resolved spectra with relatively narrow peaks in the X-H (X = C, N, O) stretching region for the b4 fragments of protonated GGGGG, AAAAA, and YGGFL. The 3200-3700 cm(-1) range of the first two of these spectra are rather similar, and the corresponding peaks can be assigned on the basis of the classical b ion structure that has a linear backbone terminated by the oxazolone ring at the C-terminus and ionizing proton residing on the oxazolone ring nitrogen. The spectrum of the b4 of YGGFL, on the other hand, is different from the two others and is characterized by a band observed near 3238 cm(-1). Similar band positions have recently been reported for one of the four isomers of the b4 of YGGFL studied using double resonance IR/UV technique. As proposed in this study, the IR spectrum of this ion at room temperature can also be assigned to a linear N-terminal amine protonated oxazolone structure. However, an alternative assignment could be proposed because our room temperature IR spectrum of the b4 of YGGFL nicely matches with the predicted IR absorption spectrum of a macrocyclic structure. Because not all experimental IR features are unambiguously assigned on the basis of the available literature structures, further theoretical studies will be required to fully exploit the benefits offered by IR spectroscopy in the X-H (X = C, N, O) stretching region.