Energetics and dynamics of electron transfer and proton transfer in dissociation of metal(III)(salen)-peptide complexes in the gas phase.

Time- and collision energy-resolved surface-induced dissociation (SID) of ternary complexes of Co(III)(salen)+, Fe(III)(salen)+, and Mn(III)(salen)+ with several angiotensin peptide analogues was studied using a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICR MS) specially equipped to perform SID experiments. Time-resolved fragmentation efficiency curves (TFECs) were modeled using an RRKM-based approach developed in our laboratory. The approach utilizes a very flexible analytical expression for the internal energy deposition function that is capable of reproducing both single-collision and multiple-collision activation in the gas phase and excitation by collisions with a surface. The energetics and dynamics of competing dissociation pathways obtained from the modeling provides important insight on the competition between proton transfer, electron transfer, loss of neutral peptide ligand, and other processes that determine gas-phase fragmentation of these model systems. Similar fragmentation behavior was obtained for various Co(III)(salen)-peptide systems of different angiotensin analogues. In contrast, dissociation pathways and relative stabilities of the complexes changed dramatically when cobalt was replaced with trivalent iron or manganese. We demonstrate that the electron-transfer efficiency is correlated with redox properties of the metal(III)(salen) complexes (Co > Fe > Mn), while differences in the types of fragments formed from the complexes reflect differences in the modes of binding between the metal-salen complex and the peptide ligand. RRKM modeling of time- and collision-energy-resolved SID data suggests that the competition between proton transfer and electron transfer during dissociation of Co(III)(salen)-peptide complexes is mainly determined by differences in entropy effects while the energetics of these two pathways are very similar.