C. J. CHAPO, J. B. PAUL, K. ROTH AND R. J. SAYKALLY, Department of Chemistry, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720.
Infrared cavity ringdown laser absorption spectroscopy (IR-CRLAS) is a novel technique which has been used to study a wide variety of systems., Currently, we report the application of this method to study hydration of small biomolecules. We have recorded mid-infrared absorption spectra for several jet-cooled amino acids, including valine and arginine. We have also collected spectra of (water)n·biomolecule clusters for these systems. In addition, we have recorded spectra in the Amide~I region (1600--1700 cm-1) for jet-cooled GlyGly, which has allowed us to begin examination of peptide backbone conformation issues. Along with ab~initio frequency calculations, these results provide insight in answering questions such as the gas-phase conformation distribution and the zwitterionic state of these systems.