EPR studies of15N- and2H-substituted pH-sensitive spin probes of imidazoline and imidazolidine types

Abstract

The isotopically substituted analogs of pH-sensitive imidazoline and imidazolidine radicals have been synthesized and investigated with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The introduction of2H and15N into the structure of the radical is a useful approach to enhance the information obtained from spin-labeling experiments. The spectra of the radicals have been analyzed with 9.8 (X-band) and 130 GHz (D-band) EPR spectroscopy. The substitution of1H for2H leads to significant narrowing of Gaussian line width, while the substitution of14N for15N in the nitroxyl fragment decreases both the number of spectral lines and Lorentzian line width. These effects result in a significant increase in the peak intensities up to 5–7 times for X-band EPR spectra of one of the imidazoline radicals (R4). The increase in spectral resolution allowed us to reveal the hyperfine interaction splitting with the attached proton (0.36 G) in the protonated form of the radical R4. The influence of proton exchange of the radicals with phosphate and acetate buffers on their EPR spectra has been studied in H2O and D2O. The corresponding rate constants of the proton exchange have been calculated from fitting of the simulated EPR spectra line shapes to experimental spectra. The data obtained demonstrated the advantages of the isotopically substituted spin pH probes in spectral resolution and sensitivity which can be an important factor particularly for applications in vivo where the fundamental sensitivity is much lower. The sensitivity of EPR spectra of these spin probes to the buffer capacity could be of practical importance taking into account the biological relevance of monitoring this parameter in some pathological states.