Interactions between trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) and the hydrogen bond donors water, methanol, ethanol, and ethylene glycol were studied using Raman spectroscopy and electronic structure computations. TMAO is an osmolyte present in living organisms which serves to counteract the denaturing effects of urea.  TMAO's remarkable properties are thought to have their origins in the hydrophobic effect, in which water's hydrogen bonded network becomes more ordered.  Here, the effects of changing the extent of the hydrogen bonded network are studied by comparing the Raman spectra of TMAO micro-solvated with a number of hydrogen bond donors.  The 514 nm line of an Argon laser was used as the excitation source for the Raman scattering.  Raman peaks in the C-H bending region (1050-1620 cm-1) and C-H stretching region (2800-3100 cm-1) of TMAO exhibited shifts when interacting with the hydrogen bond donors.  Shifts were also observed in the Raman spectra of certain hydrogen bond donors.

Investigations of noncovalent interactions in micro-solvated networks of trimethylamine N-oxide

245th National Meeting (2013)

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