Aqueous solution infrared spectroscopy amino acids

Into a mixture of 1.6 g of 2-amino-4-methylpyrlmidine with 10 ml of glacial acetic acid is slowly added 2.13 g of concentrated sulfuric acid. A mixture of 2.4 g of 2-formyl-1-methyl-5-nitroimidazole in 20 ml of glacial acetic acid is slowly added to the mixture of the pyrimidine under stirring. The reaction mixture is maintained at a temperature of about 55°C for 4 hours. The resultant mixture is then diluted with 200 ml of distilled water and neutralized with a saturated aqueous solution of sodium bicarbonate. A brownish-yellow precipitate (MP 232° to 235°C) is formed and recovered. The product is analyzed by infrared spectroscopy and is found to conform to 2-amino-4-[2-(1-methyl-5-nitro-2-imidazolyI)vinyl] pyrimidine. 

Raman spectroscopy is a vibrational spectroscopic technique which can be a useful probe of protein structure, since both intensity and frequency of vibrational motions of the amino acid side chains or polypeptide backbone are sensitive to chemical changes and the microenvironment around the functional groups. Thus, it can monitor changes related to tertiary structure as well as secondary structure of proteins. An important advantage of this technique is its versatility in application to samples which may be in solution or solid, clear or turbid, in aqueous or organic solvent. Since the concentration of proteins typically found in food systems is high, the classical dispersive method based on visible laser Raman spectroscopy, as well as the newer technique known as Fourier-transform Raman spectroscopy which utilizes near-infrared excitation, are more suitable to study food proteins (Li-Chan et aL, 1994). In contrast the technique based on ultraviolet excitation, known as resonance Raman spectroscopy, is more commonly used to study dilute protein solutions. 

The combination of infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy and the Fourier transform technique has proven to be useful for structural studies of mono-molecular protein and amino acid films formed on metal surfaces. All protein films investigated exhibit a distinct blue shift of the Amide I frequency upon adsorption on metal surfaces, compared to the same band in aqueous solution. The magnitude of this blue shift seems to be larger for proteins with dominating )8-structure (32 cm" ) than for those with a large amount of a-helix or disordered structures (ca. 20 cm" ). It is concluded from reference spectra of... 

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