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Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Determination of the Gas-phase Acidities of Oligopeptides
Published on: June 24, 2013
Single-centered hydrogen-bonded enhanced acidity (SHEA) acids: a new class of Brønsted acids
Zhixin Tian1, Alireza Fattahi, Lev Lis
1Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
Abstract:
Hydrogen bonds are the dominant motif for organizing the three-dimensional structures of biomolecules such as carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and proteins, and serve as templates for proton transfer reactions. Computations, gas-phase acidity measurements, and pK(a) determinations in dimethyl sulfoxide on a series of polyols indicate that multiple hydrogen bonds to a single charged center lead to greatly enhanced acidities. A new class of Brønsted acids, consequently, is proposed.
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