Endor Determined Structure and Conformation of Spin-Labeled Methyl L-Phenylalanate in Frozen Solutions

The conformation of L-phenylalanine and methyl L-phenylalanate acylated at the amino nitrogen position with the nitroxyl spin-label 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl- l-oxypyrroline-3-carboxylic acid has been determined by ENDOR spectroscopy and computer based molecular modeling. ENDOR spectra of spin-labeled L- phenylalanine and the corresponding methyl ester of L-phenylalanine and of their 8-fluoro and £-fluoro derivatives in perdeuterated methanol or chloroform/toluene exhibited well resolved resonance absorptions from protons and fluorines of the amino acid moiety. From the analysis of the dependence of the ENDOR spectra on Hq, we have identified principal hyperfine coupling (hfc) components of each …