Proton Affinity of Isomeric Dipeptides Containing Lysine and Non-Proteinogenic Lysine Homologues

Conformational effects on the proton affinity of oligopeptides have been studied using six alanine (A)-based acetylated dipeptides containing a basic probe that is placed closest to either the C- or the N-terminus. The basic probe includes Lysine (Lys) and two nonproteinogenic Lys-homologues, ornithine (Orn) and 2,3-diaminopropionic acid (Dap). The proton affinities of the peptides have been determined using the extended Cooks kinetic method in a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Computational studies have been carried out to search for the lowest energy conformers and to calculate theoretical proton affinities as well as various molecular properties using the density functional theory. The dipeptides containing a C-terminal probe, ALys, AOrn, and ADap, were determined to have a higher proton affinity by 1–4 kcal/mol than the corresponding dipeptides containing an N-terminal probe, LysA, OrnA, and DapA. For either the C-probe peptides or the N-probe peptides, the proton affinity reduces systematically as the side-chain of the probe residue is shortened. The difference in the proton affinities between isomeric peptides is largely associated with the variation of the conformations. The peptides with higher values of the proton affinity adopt a relatively compact conformation such that the protonated peptides can be stabilized through more efficient internal solvation.