The objective of spectral analysis is to resolve and extract relevant features from experimental data in an optimal fashion. In continuous-wave (cw) electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy, both g values of a paramagnetic center and hyperfine splitting (A) caused by its interaction with neighboring magnetic nuclei in a molecule provide important structural and electronic information. However, in the presence of g- and/or A-anisotropy and/or large number of resonance lines, spectral analysis becomes highly challenging. Either high-resolution experimental techniques are employed to resolve the spectra in those cases or a range of suitable ESR frequencies are used in combination with simulations to identify the corresponding g and A values. In this work, we present a wavelet transform technique in resolving both simulated and experimental cw-ESR spectra by separating the hyperfine and super-hyperfine components. We exploit the multiresolution property of wavelet transforms that allow the separation of distinct features of a spectrum based on simultaneous analysis of spectrum and its varying frequency. We retain the wavelet components that stored the hyperfine and/or super-hyperfine features, while eliminating the wavelet components representing the remaining spectrum. We tested the method on simulated cases of metal–ligand adducts at L-, S-, and X-band frequencies, and showed that extracted g values, hyperfine and super-hyperfine coupling constants from simulated spectra, were in excellent agreement with the values of those parameters used in the simulations. For the experimental case of a copper(II) complex with distorted octahedral geometry, the method was able to extract g and hyperfine coupling constant values, and revealed features that were buried in the overlapped spectra.
22 November 2022 in The Journal of Physical Chemistry A
Green hydrogen is increasingly acknowledged as a pivotal facilitator for the transition to a sustainable and renewable energy paradigm, presenting a clean alternative to conventional fossil fuels.
Electron spin resonance pulsed dipolar spectroscopy (PDS) has become popular in protein 3D structure analysis. PDS studies yield distance distributions between a pair or multiple pairs of spin probes attached to protein molecules, which can be used directly in structural studies or as constraints in theoretical predictions. Double-quantum coherence (DQC) is a highly sensitive and accurate PDS technique to study protein structures in the solid state and under physiologically relevant conditions. In this work, we have derived analytical expressions for the DQC signal for a system with N-dipolar coupled spin-1/2 particles in the solid state. The expressions are integrated over the relevant spatial parameters to obtain closed form DQC signal expressions. These expressions contain the concentration-dependent “instantaneous diffusion” and the background signal. For micromolar and lower concentrations, these effects are negligible. An approximate analysis is provided for cases of finite pulses. The expressions obtained in this work should improve the analysis of DQC experimental data significantly, and the analytical approach could be extended easily to a wide range of magnetic resonance phenomena.
The accurate analysis of continuous-wave electron spin resonance (cw ESR) spectra of biological or organic free-radicals and paramagnetic metal complexes is key to understanding their structure–function relationships and electrochemical properties. The current methods of analysis based on simulations often fail to extract the spectral information accurately. In addition, such analyses are highly sensitive to spectral resolution and artifacts, users’ defined input parameters and spectral complexity. We introduce a simulation-independent spectral analysis approach that enables broader application of ESR. We use a wavelet packet transform-based method for extracting g values and hyperfine (A) constants directly from cw ESR spectra. We show that our method overcomes the challenges associated with simulation-based methods for analyzing poorly/partially resolved and unresolved spectra, which is common in most cases. The accuracy and consistency of the method are demonstrated on a series of experimental spectra of organic radicals and copper–nitrogen complexes. We showed that for a two-component system, the method identifies their individual spectral features even at a relative concentration of 5% for the minor component.