Application of W-band 19F electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopy to distance measurement using a trityl spin probe and a fluorine label.

Recently, Marina Bennati and coworkers (M. Bennati et al., Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2020, 59, 373-379., M. Bennati et al., J. Magn. Reson., 2021, 333, 107091) proposed to use electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopy in the W-band for a pair of labels, nitroxide and 19F, for measurements of short (0.5-1.0 nm) distances in biomolecules. In our paper, we investigated the suitability of high-field ENDOR spectroscopy in the W-band for pairs of triarylmethyl and fluorine labels using five newly synthesized model compounds. It is shown that the application of strong magnetic fields allows distinguishing nuclear frequencies of 19F and protons with sufficient resolution. On the one hand, in contrast to nitroxides, for triarylmethyl radicals, it is not necessary to obtain spectra in different orientations owing to low g-factor anisotropic and long electron spin relaxation times of triarylmethyls. On the other hand, the size of the triarylmethyl radical is substantially larger than that of nitroxide and comparable with measured distances. We theoretically analyzed the suitability of the dipole-dipole approach for triarylmethyl to be used in a 19F ENDOR experiment and determined limitations of this approach. Finally, for comparison, we performed paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE) NMR on the same compounds. In addition, we applied this approach to study the process of a thiol exchange between molecules of triarylmethyl-labeled and 19F-labeled human serum albumin (HSA).

Electron spin echo envelope modulation of molecular motions of deuterium nuclei.

Electron Spin Echo Envelope Modulation (ESEEM) spectroscopy is a powerful technique for the study of hyperfine interactions between an unpaired electron and nearby nuclei in solids, and is employed in quantitative structural studies. Here, we describe the use of ESEEM to study the slow motion of deuterium nuclei using their nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) line shapes. Two ESEEM techniques were employed: the conventional three-pulse ESEEM experiment, π/2 - τ - π/2 - T- π/2 - τ - echo, and the four-pulse ESEEM, π/2 - τ - π/2 - T/2 - π - T/2 - π/2 - τ - echo, with the time variable T scanned in both cases. The nitroxide free radical 4-tert-butyliminomethyl-2,2,5,5-tetramethyl(d12)-3-imidazoline-1-oxyl with four deuterated methyl groups was investigated in a glassy ortho-terphenyl matrix over a wide temperature range. It was shown that four-pulse ESEEM allowed measurement of the nearly pure (2)H NQR line shape. Between 90K and 120K, the ESEEM spectra change drastically. At low temperatures, four-pulse ESEEM spectra show a Pake-like pattern, which evolves into a single line at higher temperatures, which is typical for NQR of rotating methyl CD3 groups. Comparison with literature data on NQR allows estimation of the reorientation rate, k. At ∼100K, where the spectral changes are most pronounced, k was found to be ∼10(5)s(-1). The spectral linewidths for the three-pulse ESEEM were found to decrease similarly with increasing temperature; so the three-pulse technique is also capable to detect motion of this type. The ESEEM approach, along with site-directed spin labeling, may be useful for detection of motional transitions near the spin labels in biological systems, when information on motion is required in a wide temperature range.

The sensitivity range for the nucleation process to temperature fluctuations from thermal radiation exchange of liquid critical clusters in a metastable vapor phase.

The influence of liquid critical clusters temperature fluctuations caused by the radiation exchange (RTFs) on the nucleation process during a vapor to liquid phase transition is studied. This influence is significant when two conditions are met; (1) the RTFs amplitude is larger than the system overcooling thus allowing a reduction in the cluster temperature below the temperature of phase transition, and (2) RTFs correlation time is large enough to allow an extra emission of vapor molecules by the cluster of critical size thus making the cluster subcritical. The range of the system overcooling is found where RTFs may have a strong impact on the process of liquid phase formation.