Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 31, 2025

Proton Transfer and Protein Conformation Dynamics in Photosensitive Proteins by Time-resolved Step-scan Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy
Published on: June 27, 2014
The primary photo-dissociation dynamics of amino acids in aqueous solution: breaking the Cα-bond
Marlene Møller Madsen1, Frank Jensen1, Jan Thøgersen1
1Dept. of Chemistry, Aarhus University, Langelandsgade 140, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. thogersen@chem.au.dk.
Abstract:
We report a study of the primary photo-dissociation dynamics of aqueous alanine, isoleucine and proline by 200 nm UV pump-IR probe transient absorption spectroscopy. Photo-dissociation of the three amino acids predominantly results in decarboxylation, and 38 ± 7% of the excited alanine, 35 ± 10% of the excited isoleucine and 47 ± 10% of the excited proline zwitterions remain dissociated 100 picoseconds after the excitation. The decarboxylation occurs from a transient intermediate with a lifetime of ∼20 picoseconds to which we assign the excited state of the amino acids based on comparison of the measured and calculated IR spectra, and calculated excited state energy surfaces.
Related Concept Videos
Mass Spectrometry of Amines
Basicity of Aliphatic Amines
To measure the basicity of amines, two conventions are generally used. The first defines Kb as the basicity constant for the deprotonation reaction of water by the amine, as presented in Figure 1. Conventionally, lower Kb indicates higher...
Mass Spectrometry: Amine Fragmentation
In amines, the number of nitrogen atoms affects the mass of the molecular ion, which is described by the nitrogen rule of mass spectrometry. This rule states that a compound containing a single...
Amides to Carboxylic Acids: Hydrolysis
Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis:
Hydrolysis of amides under acidic conditions yields carboxylic acids. Since the reaction occurs slowly, hydrolysis requires the conditions of heat.
The mechanism begins with the protonation of the carbonyl oxygen by the acid catalyst. The protonation makes the amide carbonyl carbon more...
Acid Halides to Amides: Aminolysis
In the first step of the aminolysis mechanism, the amine attacks the carbonyl carbon of the acyl chloride to form a tetrahedral intermediate. In the second step, the carbonyl group is re-formed with the elimination of a chloride...
Peptide Bonds

