Amino acids form prenucleation clusters: ESI-MS as a fast detection method in comparison to analytical ultracentrifugation

作者：Kellermeier Matthias; Rosenberg Rose; Moise Adrian; Anders Ulrike; Przybylski Michael; Coelfen Helmut

来源：Faraday Discussions, 2012, 159: 23-45.

DOI：10.1039/c2fd20060k

Electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is a fast method which is able to provide molecular mass information with high precision. In this contribution, we show that prenucleation clusters-species recently found to play a pivotal role in crystallisation processes-are detected in addition to monomers by analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) for the whole range of DL-amino acids, while higher oligomers are simultaneously observed in ESI-MS spectra. This suggests ESI-MS is a fast method to identify systems, which form prenucleation clusters. The occurrence of these clusters as relevant precursors in non-classical nucleation scenarios thus appears to be a more common phenomenon than so far assumed.

• 出版日期2012