Structural and Topological Studies of Methionine Radical Cations in Dipeptides: Electron Sharing in Two-Center Three-Electron Bonds

One electron oxidation of methionine in peptides is highly dependent on the local structure. The sulfur-centered radical cation can complex with oxygen, nitrogen, or other sulfur atoms from a neighboring residue or from the peptidic bond, forming an intramolecular S therefore X two-center three-electron bond (X = S, N, O). This stabilization was investigated computationnally in the radical cations of three peptides, methionine glycine (Met Gly) and its reverse sequence Gly Met, and Met Met. Geometry optimizations were done at the BH&HLYP/6-31G(d) level of theory and the effect of solvation was taken into account using a continuum model (CPCM). Up to seven stable conformations were considered for each peptide, with formation of 5-10 member cycles involving nitrogen from the peptidic bond or from the amine, oxygen from the peptidic bond or from the carboxylate group, or sulfur from the other residue for Met Met. The absorption wavelengths corresponding to the sigma -> sigma* transition calculated for each complex at the TD-BH&HLYP/6-311+G(d,p)//BH&HLYP/6-31G(d) level of theory vary from the near-UV for the S therefore O bonds to the green visible for the S therefore S bonds. For X = N, they increase with the SN distance as expected for a 2c-3e bond, whereas for X = O they slightly decrease. Characterization of these 2c-3e bonds as a function of the sequence, using the ELF and the AIM topological analyses, shows the different natures of the S therefore X bonds, which is purely 2c-3e for X = S. mainly 2c-3e with a part of electrostatic interaction for X = N and mainly electrostatic for X = O.