Biologically Relevant Molecules Studied in Low Temperature Inert Matrices
Matrix isolation is a technique where gaseous atoms and molecules are trapped in an environment of solidified inert gases at temperatures close to absolute zero. The method was originally used to study free radicals and other short-lived chemical reaction
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Biologically Relevant Molecules Studied in Low Temperature Inert Matrices Rui Fausto and Nihal Kuş
Abstract Matrix isolation is a technique where gaseous atoms and molecules are trapped in an environment of solidified inert gases at temperatures close to absolute zero. The method was originally used to study free radicals and other short-lived chemical reaction intermediates, but receives nowadays many other uses, including its application to the study of molecules of biological importance. Without surprise, the method has been progressively catching the interest of biochemists and molecular biologists, and has been applied to many molecules with pharmaceutical or medical use. In this Chapter, we describe the use of matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy to investigate molecules of biological interest. The fundamentals of the technique are briefly presented, and examples of its application to the study of different phenomena in a series of selected molecules of biological relevance are provided. Keywords Low temperature inert matrices • Infrared spectroscopy • Amino acids • Nuclei acids’ bases • Phenols • Coumarins
7.1 Introduction Biologically relevant molecules may be large complex molecular entities or simple small molecules. Proteins and nucleic acids are examples of large biomolecules that are fundamental for life, since they constitute the main machinery that makes a living being functioning. However, even the simplest molecules may play a fundamental role in life. Molecular oxygen is, probably, the best example of a simple, small molecule playing a critical role in biology, at least for the nowadays most developed organisms. Along the biological evolution, the organisms had to use simple, easily accessible molecules as energy-providing materials to keep them working, but they also
R. Fausto () · N. Kuş Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra, 3004-535, Coimbra, Portugal e-mail: [email protected] N. Kuş Department of Physics, Anadolu University, 26470, Eskişehir, Turkey M. Baranska (ed.), Optical Spectroscopy and Computational Methods in Biology and Medicine, Challenges and Advances in Computational Chemistry and Physics 14, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-7832-0_7, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
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used these inexpensive molecular materials as pieces to build up their own bodies and machinery, from controlling and defense systems to structural and reproductive devices. Proteins are made from simple building blocks, the amino acids, which can be produced from non-biomorphic materials under certain circumstances, and that are believed to have been initially formed that way on the Earth. Amino acids also play a critical role in the systems of command of the living beings, as neurotransmitters. The main components of the nucleic acids are relatively simple heterocyclic molecules, belonging to the purine and pyrimidine families, which are the most widely-distributed kind of nitrogen-containing heterocycles in nature [1]. Purines are also significant components i
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