Ion Mobility Unlocks the Photofragmentation Mechanism of Retinal Protonated Schiff Base

Retinal protonated Schiff base (RPSB) is a key molecular component of biological photoreceptors and bacterial photosynthetic structures, where its action involves photoisomerization around bonds in the polyene chain. In a vacuum environment, collisional activation or exposure to visible light causes...

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Veröffentlicht in:The journal of physical chemistry letters 2014-09, Vol.5 (18), p.3195-3199
Hauptverfasser: Coughlan, N. J. A, Adamson, B. D, Catani, K. J, Wille, U, Bieske, E. J
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Retinal protonated Schiff base (RPSB) is a key molecular component of biological photoreceptors and bacterial photosynthetic structures, where its action involves photoisomerization around bonds in the polyene chain. In a vacuum environment, collisional activation or exposure to visible light causes the RPSB molecule to disintegrate, producing charged molecular fragments with m/z = 248 Da that cannot be formed by simple cleavage of the polyene chain. Photofragments resulting from laser excitation of RPSB at a wavelength of 532 nm are analyzed in an ion mobility mass spectrometer (IMMS) and found to be the protonated Schiff base of β-ionone. Density functional theory calculations at the M06-2X/cc-pVDZ level support a fragmentation mechanism in which RPSB undergoes an electrocyclization/fragmentation cascade with the production of protonated Schiff base of β-ionone and toluene.
ISSN:1948-7185
1948-7185
DOI:10.1021/jz501407n