Alanine Radicals:  Structure Determination by EPR and ENDOR of Single Crystals X-Irradiated at 295 K

Abstract

Single crystals of the amino acid l-α-alanine have been X-irradiated at room temperature, and the free radical formation has been studied using X-band and K-band EPR, ENDOR, and EIE (ENDOR-induced EPR) spectroscopy in the temperature interval 220−295 K. Aided by the results from EIE, as well as ENDOR from selected magnetic field positions, nine hyperfine coupling tensors were obtained and assigned to three different radicals. Room-temperature relaxation behaviors characterized by efficient W1x and W1e and by slow W1n relaxation rates allowed for determination of the signs of the various hyperfine couplings from the ENDOR spectra obtained at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the W1x relaxation is qualitatively discussed. The EPR spectra from alanine are dominated by the well-known resonance of the “stable alanine radical”, SAR, formed by a net deamination of the protonated alanine anion. Precise hyperfine coupling tensors due to the α-proton coupling, the methyl group coupling, and a dipolar coupling to a methyl group of a neighboring molecule, as well as the g tensor, are given for this radical. Spectral simulations show that these parameters in a satisfactory manner reproduce all observable features of the resonance from this radical. Radical R2, apparently formed in roughly the same amounts as SAR, exhibits the structure H3N+−•C(CH3)C(O)O-. It is formed from alanine by a net H-abstraction from the Cα position. The hyperfine coupling tensor to the freely rotating methyl group was obtained from both X-band and K-band data. K-band spectra obtained at several temperatures between 220 and 290 K revealed that the amino group is not freely rotating; that is, the three protons of the amino group are locked in their hydrogen bonds also after radical formation. A significant increase in ENDOR line widths upon increasing temperature made the ENDOR lines due to the amino protons practically nonobservable at 295 K. However, the three corresponding hyperfine coupling tensors were easily obtained from K-band ENDOR data at 220 K. The B0 and B2 values for β-coupling to N+−H fragments were determined to be −4.3 and 117.6 MHz, respectively. Due to partly unresolved nitrogen hyperfine interaction leading to larger line widths, the individual EPR lines from radical R2 are of far less intensity as compared to those of the SAR. However, simulations strongly indicate that there is an almost equal relative distribution (60%:40%) of the two radicals. Two hyperfine coupling tensors were assigned to two conformations of a third minority radical species (radical R3) which tentatively is suggested to be the species H2N−•C(CH3)C(OH)O. Possible mechanisms for the formation of the radicals are discussed in light of the basic radiation chemistry of the amino acids. The simultaneous presence of two stable radicals of similar relative amounts in alanine may have consequences for the use of alanine as a radiation dosimeter.