Proton affinity of several basic non-standard amino acids

The structures and absolute proton affinities of several arginine (2-amino-3-guanidinopropionic acid, 2-amino-4-guanidinobutyric acid, homoarginine, citrulline and canavanine), histidine (1-methylhistidine and 3-methylhistidine) and lysine (2,3-diaminopropanoic acid, 2,4-diaminobutanoic acid, ornithine, 5-hydroxylysine, canaline and thialysine) homologues and analogues have been estimated using composite G3MP2B3 computational protocol. For a majority of here studied non-standard amino acids the gas-phase proton affinities were established for the first time, while for the others obtained values are used to improve the accuracy of the computational and experimental proton affinities reported previously. In addition, structures and proton affinities are discussed in order to rationalize their biological activity.