THz to far-infrared spectra of the known crystal polymorphs of phenylalanine

There is renewed interest in the structure of the essential amino acid phenylalanine in the solid state. Three new polymorphs were found in the years 2012 to 2014. Here, we investigate the structure, stability, and energetical ordering of these phases using first-principles simulations at the level...

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Published in:Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP 2024-02, Vol.26 (9), p.7329-7334
Main Authors: Niehaus, Thomas A, Prost, Emilien, Loriot, Vincent, Lépine, Franck, Bergé, Luc, Skupin, Stefan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption spectra
Amino acids
Atomic Physics
Density functional theory
Far infrared radiation
First principles
Fourier transforms
Free energy
Infrared absorption
Infrared spectra
Optics
Phenylalanine
Physics
Plasma Physics
Structural stability
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Summary:There is renewed interest in the structure of the essential amino acid phenylalanine in the solid state. Three new polymorphs were found in the years 2012 to 2014. Here, we investigate the structure, stability, and energetical ordering of these phases using first-principles simulations at the level of density functional theory incorporating van der Waals interactions. Two of the distinct crystal forms are found to be structurally similar and energetically very close after vibrational free energy corrections have been taken into account. Infrared absorption spectra are likewise calculated and compared to experimental measurements. By combining measurements obtained with a commercial Fourier transform infra-red spectrometer and a homemade air-photonics-based THz time domain spectrometer, we could carry out this comparison in the vibrational frequency region from 1 to 40 THz. The excellent agreement of the line positions and the established energy ranking allow us to identify the most stable polymorph of phenylalanine. Organic molecules such as amino acids display different crystalline structures. We study the structure of four known crystal polymorphs of phenylalanine using DFT numerical computations and experimental vibrational spectra in the 1-40 THz range.
ISSN:1463-9076
1463-9084
DOI:10.1039/d3cp05805k