Hydration of Biomolecules and Metal Ions Investigated by Mass Spectrometry

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

The award made to Dr. Evan Williams of the University of California at Berkeley entitled "Hydration of Biomolecules and Metal Ions Investigated by Mass Spectrometry" is supported by the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program. The goal of the research is to increase the fundamental knowledge of how the properties of biomolecules change as they change from isolated species in the gas phase to solution phase species. There are four research objectives, 1) characterizing the formation of zwitterions in hydrated ion-amino acid clusters, 2) measuring the binding energies of hydrated peptides and alkaline earth dications, 3) determining the structures of hydrated peptides and alkaline earth dications, and 4) establishing the reaction rates of hydrated dication-amino acid clusters. The work will be performed on specialized equipment which includes electrospray ionization with Blackbody Infrared Radiative Dissociation (BIRD) on an ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. The research related to the enhanced BIRD cell design is both original and creative. This fundamental research into gas phase ion chemistry; kinetics, thermochemistry, structure and mechanism is ambitious and novel. The research will have a significant impact because it bridges the gap between gas phase physical chemical studies and solution phase biomolecular chemistry and because it will impact each field individually as well.