IR and IR + UV spectroscopy of isolated [Al–AcPheOMe]n+ cluster cations (n = 1, 3)

Abstract

Singly and triply charged cationic clusters of aluminium and the protected amino acid AcPheOMe are investigated in a supersonic beam by using a combination of a thermic and a laser ablation ion source. For the singly charged species UV- and IR photodissociation spectroscopy is applied. In the case of the triply charged clusters a variant of combined IR + UV spectroscopy is used to obtain information in the NH-stretching region. By comparison with DFT calculations structural assignments are suggested and it turns out that both clusters prefer a helical arrangement with aluminium being aggregated to both carbonyl groups. For the triply charged cluster a globular structure is formed in which aluminium is captured both by the carbonyl groups and the phenyl ring.