We present infrared photodissociation spectra of two protonated peptides that are cooled in a ~10 K quadrupole ion trap and “tagged” with weakly bound H2 molecules. Spectra are recorded over the range 600 – 4300 cm−1 using a table-top laser source, and are shown to result from one-photon absorption events. This arrangement is demonstrated to recover sharp (Δν~6 cm−1) transitions throughout the fingerprint region, despite the very high density of vibrational states in this energy range. The fundamentals associated with all of the signature N-H and C=O stretching bands are completely resolved. To address the site-specificity of the C=O stretches near 1800 cm−1, we incorporated one 13C into the tripeptide. The labeling affects only one line in the complex spectrum, indicating that each C=O oscillator contributes a single distinct band, effectively “reporting” its local chemical environment. For both peptides, analysis of the resulting band patterns indicates that only one isomeric form is generated upon cooling the ions initially at room temperature into the H2 tagging regime.

The gas-phase infrared spectra of discrete uranyl ([UO2]2+) complexes ligated with acetone and/or acetonitrile were used to evaluate systematic trends of ligation on the position of the O=U=O stretch and to enable rigorous comparison with the results of computational studies. Ionic uranyl complexes isolated in a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer were fragmented via infrared multiphoton dissociation using a free electron laser scanned over the mid-IR wavelengths. The asymmetric O=U=O stretching frequency was measured at 1017 cm(-1) for [UO2(CH3COCH3)2]2+ and was systematically red shifted to 1000 and 988 cm(-1) by the addition of a third and fourth acetone ligand, respectively, which was consistent with increased donation of electron density to the uranium center in complexes with higher coordination number. The values generated computationally using LDA, B3LYP, and ZORA-PW91 were in good agreement with experimental measurements. In contrast to the uranyl frequency shifts, the carbonyl frequencies of the acetone ligands were progressively blue shifted as the number of ligands increased from two to four and approached that of free acetone. This observation was consistent with the formation of weaker noncovalent bonds between uranium and the carbonyl oxygen as the extent of ligation increases. Similar trends were observed for [UO2(CH3CN)n]2+ complexes, although the uranyl asymmetric stretching frequencies were greater than those measured for acetone complexes having equivalent coordination, which is consistent with the fact that acetonitrile is a weaker nucleophile than is acetone. This conclusion was confirmed by the uranyl stretching frequencies measured for mixed acetone/acetonitrile complexes, which showed that substitution of one acetone for one acetonitrile produced a modest red shift of 3-6 cm(-1).