title: Fundamental thermochemical properties of amino acids: gas-phase and aqueous acidities and gas-phase heats of formation.
abstract: The gas-phase acidities of the 20 L-amino acids have been predicted at the composite G3(MP2) level. A broad range of structures of the neutral and anion were studied to determine the lowest energy conformer. Excellent agreement is found with the available experimental gas-phase deprotonation enthalpies, and the calculated values are within experimental error. We predict that tyrosine is deprotonated at the CO(2)H site. Cysteine is predicted to be deprotonated at the SH but the proton on the CO(2)H is shared with the S(-) site. Self-consistent reaction field (SCRF) calculations with the COSMO parametrization were used to predict the pK(a)'s of the non-zwitterion form in aqueous solution. The differences in the non-zwitterion pK(a) values were used to estimate the free energy difference between the zwitterion and nonzwitterion forms in solution. The heats of formation of the neutral compounds were calculated from atomization energies and isodesmic reactions to provide the first reliable set of these values in the gas phase. Further calculations were performed on five rare amino acids to predict their heats of formation, acidities, and pK(a) values.
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, The University of Alabama, Shelby Hall, Box 870336, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0336, USA.
authors.forename: Michele L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Stover
authors.forename: Virgil E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Myrna H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Matus
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Carolyn J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Cassady
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Dixon
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D005740:Gases; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000143:Acids; D000596:Amino Acids; D005740:Gases; D014867:Water