2D IR photon echo of azido-probes for biomolecular dynamics

The vibrations in the azido-, N-3, asymmetric stretching region of 2'-azido-2'-deoxyuridine (N(3)dU) are examined by two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy. In water and tetrahydrofuran (THF), the spectra display a single sharp diagonal peak that shows solvent sensitivity. The frequency-frequency correlation time in water is 1.5 ps, consistent with H-bond making and breaking dynamics. The 2D IR spectrum is reproduced for N(3)dU in water based on a model correlation function and known linear response functions. Its large extinction coefficient, vibrational frequency outside the protein and nucleic acid IR absorption, and sensitivity to water dynamics render -N-3 a very useful probe for 2D IR and other nonlinear IR studies: its signal is ca. 100 times that of nitriles.