Deuterium quadrupole coupling in N-acetylglycine and librational dynamics in solid poly(gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate)

To study the dynamics of peptide groups in solid proteins, we have accurately determined the principal components and molecular orientation of the electric field gradient tensor for the exchangeable deuterons in monoclinic N-acetylglycine by single-crystal deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance. These results are compared with the principal components of the amide deuterons in solid poly(gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate) measured in powder samples over a wide temperature range (140-400 K). The comparison indicates that in the solid polypeptide the N-D bonds undergo a small-amplitude torsional reorientation (libration) perpendicular to the peptide plane. To estimate dynamic rates, longitudinal relaxation times (T1 values) are reported for N-acetylglycine and poly(gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate). T1 values for the carboxyl and amide deuterons in N-acetylglycine are approximately 100 s, whereas for the amide deuterons in the polypeptide T1 approximately 1 s, also indicating that the N-D bonds are not stationary in the polypeptide. We determine from the reduced quadrupole coupling tensor the mean-square amplitude for the libration and show that it increases linearly with temperature. A simple qualitative theory for the relaxation times is presented on the basis of the assumption that the N-D reorientation is described either as a diffusion process in a square well or as a damped Langevin oscillator with a harmonic restoring force. The conclusion is that the short relaxation times of the polypeptide amide deuterons result from substantial frictional effects on reorientation that increase with temperature.