Ultrafast 2D-IR spectroelectrochemistry of flavin mononucleotide

We demonstrate the coupling of ultrafast two-dimensional infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy to electrochemistry in solution and apply it to flavin mononucleotide, an important cofactor of redox proteins. For this purpose, we designed a spectroelectrochemical cell optimized for 2D-IR measurements in reflection and measured the time-dependent 2D-IR spectra of the oxidized and reduced forms of flavin mononucleotide. The data show anharmonic coupling and vibrational energy transfer between different vibrational modes in the two redox species. Such information is inaccessible with redox-controlled steady-state FTIR spectroscopy. The wide range of applications offered by 2D-IR spectroscopy, such as sub-picosecond structure determination, IR band assignment via energy transfer, disentangling reaction mixtures through band connectivity in the 2D spectra, and the measurement of solvation dynamics and chemical exchange can now be explored under controlled redox potential. The development of this technique furthermore opens new horizons for studying the dynamics of redox proteins. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.