Rapid scan Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and
time-resolved single wavelength infrared
(IR) spectroscopy have been applied to study the mechanism of
photochemical release of adenosine 5‘-triphosphate
(ATP) from its
P
3-[1-(2-nitrophenyl)ethyl] ester (caged
ATP). Bands arising from phosphate and non-phosphate
vibrations characteristic of the aci-nitro anion
intermediate and from free ATP and byproducts of the
nitrophenylethyl
group have been assigned using 13C, 15N, and
18O isotopomers of caged ATP. Monitoring several of
these bands
using time-resolved single frequency IR spectroscopy confirms that
release of ATP occurs in a single exponential
process synchronous with the decay of the aci-nitro anion
intermediate. Spectral characteristics of the
reaction
products arising from the 1-(2-nitrophenyl)ethyl group in the
absence and presence of dithiothreitol (DTT) have
been determined. The major final byproduct from photolysis
conducted in the presence of DTT is 3-methylanthranil.
The mechanism of formation of this compound from
2-nitrosoacetophenone has been investigated in detail by a
combination of spectroscopic, kinetic, and chemical methods and
reconciled with earlier data. The byproduct species
likely to be present on the time scale of most biological experiments
using caged compounds is 2-hydroxylaminoacetophenone as a mixture of ring-chain tautomers.