Vol 49, No 12 (2018)

A rescaling procedure is proposed for electron spin echo envelope modulation spectra observed at several electron paramagnetic resonance transitions. Analytical expressions describing the relations between the rescaled frequencies and hyperfine and quadrupole parameters of the remote nucleus are obtained. The dependences of the rescaled data on the external magnetic field and spin projections of the ion nucleus and the remote nuclei are used to derive the parameters of the nuclear state in the crystals Y₂SiO₅ and YVO₄ doped by ion Nd³⁺.

Frequency-correlated 2D SIFTER with broadband pulses at X-band frequencies can be used to determine the inter-spin distance and relative orientation of nitroxide moieties in macromolecules when the flexibility of the spin-labels is restricted. At X-band frequencies the EPR spectrum of nitroxides is governed by the strongly anisotropic nitrogen hyperfine coupling. For rigid spin-labels, where the orientation of the inter-connecting vector R correlates to the relative orientations of the nitroxide labels, the dipolar oscillation frequency varies over the EPR spectral line shape. Broadband shaped pulses allow excitation of the complete nitroxide EPR spectra. In this case, Fourier transform of the echo signal gives both fast and direct access to the orientation dependent dipole coupling. This allows determination of not only the inter-spin distance R, but also their mutual orientation. Here, we show the application of the frequency-correlated 2D SIFTER experiment with broadband pulses to a bis-nitroxide model compound and to a double stranded DNA sample. In both molecules, there is restricted internal mobility of the two spin-labels. The experimental results are compared to orientation selective pulsed electron double resonance (PELDOR) experiments and simulations based on a simple geometrical model or MD simulations describing the conformational flexibility of the molecules. Fourier transformation of the SIFTER echo signal yields orientation selective dipolar time traces over the complete EPR-spectral range. This leads to an improved frequency resolution and either to a reduced experimental measurement time or a larger span of frequency offsets measured compared to orientation selective PELDOR experiments. The experimental potential and limitations of the 2D SIFTER method for samples containing rigid spin-labels will be discussed.

Site-directed spin labeling of proteins by chemical modification of engineered cysteine residues with the molecule MTSSL (1-oxyl-2,2,5,5-tetramethylpyrroline-3-methyl methanethiosulfonate) has been an invaluable tool for conducting double electron electron resonance (DEER) spectroscopy experiments. However, this method is generally limited to recombinant proteins with a limited number of reactive Cys residues that when modified will not impair protein function. Here, we present a method that allows for spin labeling of protein-nucleotide-binding sites by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) modified with a nitroxide moiety on the β-phosphate (ADP-β-S-SL). The synthesis of this ADP analog is straightforward and isolation of pure product is readily achieved on a standard reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system. Furthermore, analyses of isolated ADP-β-S-SL by LC–mass spectrometry confirm that the molecule is very stable under ambient conditions. The crystal structure of ADP-β-S-SL bound to the ATP pocket of the histidine kinase CheA reveals specific targeting of the probe, whose nitroxide moiety is mobile on the protein surface. Continuous wave and pulsed-ESR measurements demonstrate the capability of ADP-β-S-SL to report on active site environment and provide reliable DEER distance constraints.

X-band EPR spectra on SiCN ceramics, doped with Fe(III) ions, annealed at 800 °C, 1000 °C, 1100 °C, 1285 °C, and 1400 °C have been simulated to understand better their magnetic properties, accompanied by new magnetization measurements in the temperature range of 5–400 K for zero-field cooling (ZFC) and field cooling (FC) at 100C. The EPR spectra reveal the presence of several kinds of Fe-containing nanoparticles with different magnetic properties. The maxima of the temperature variation of ZFC magnetization were exploited to estimate (i) the blocking temperature, which decreased with annealing temperature of the samples and (ii) the distribution of the size of Fe-containing nanoparticles in the various samples, which was found to become more uniform with increasing annealing temperature, implying that more homogenous magnetic SiCN/Fe composites can be fabricated by annealing at even higher temperatures than 1400 °C to be used as sensors. The hysteresis curves showed different behaviors above (superparamagnetic), below (ferromagnetic), and about (butterfly shape) the respective average blocking temperatures, 〈T_B〉. An analysis of the coercive field dependence upon temperature reveals that it follows Stoner–Wohlfarth model for the SiCN/Fe samples annealed above 1100 °C, from which the blocking temperatures was also deduced.