Experimental and Theoretical Investigations of Infrared Multiple Photon Dissociation Spectra of Glutamine Complexes with Zn(2+) and Cd(2.).

Complexes of glutamine (Gln) cationized with Zn(2+) and Cd(2+) were examined by infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) action spectroscopy using light generated from a free-electron laser. Electrospray ionization yielded complexes of deprotonated Gln with Zn(2+), Zn(Gln-H), and intact Gln with CdCl(+), CdCl(+)(Gln). For each complex, the spectra obtained were compared with those for low-energy conformers found using quantum chemical calculations to identify the structures present experimentally. Calculations were performed at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level for Zn(Gln-H) and at the B3LYP/def2-TZVP level with an SDD effective core potential on cadmium for CdCl(+)(Gln). The main binding motif observed for the Cd(2+) complex was a charge-solvated, tridentate [N,CO,COsc] structure in which the metal binds to the backbone amino group and the carbonyl oxygens of the carboxylic acid and side-chain amide groups. The Zn(2+) system similarly preferred a [N,CO(-),COsc] binding motif, where binding was observed at the carboxylate site along with the backbone amino and side-chain carbonyl groups. In both cases, the theoretically determined lowest-energy conformers explain the experimental Zn(Gln-H) and CdCl(+)(Gln) spectra well.