Microcanonical kinetics of water-mediated proton transfer in microhydrated 4-aminobenzoic acid

Isolated cluster systems can help to elucidate the molecular level description of water-mediated proton transfer. Protonation of neutral 4-aminobenzoic acid (4ABA) occurs at the acid ( O -protomer) and amine ( N -protomer) functionalities, yielding two distinct species with relative energies dependent on the degree of hydration. Here, we measured the rates of intramolecular proton transfer in 4ABAH + ·(H 2 O) 6 ions upon protomer-selective vibrational excitation of initially cold (6 K) cluster ions isolated in a cryogenic ion trap. Interconversion rates were observed on the microsecond time scale. These results quantify the kinetics of proton transfers in the context of a closed, finite system at well-defined internal energies and therefore provide experimental benchmarks for theoretical efforts that are being developed to treat relatively slow, highly cooperative solvent-mediated chemical processes.