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I have a tripeptide molecule with an unnatural amino acid unit. I want to do the gas phase study of the molecule, hoping to understand the intrinsic interactions in detail. I need to bring the peptide to the gas phase for that. I don't think heating the sample will be a good idea, as I am worried about the denaturation of the peptide. Is there any other way to bring my sample to the gas phase. I want to know if there are any methods by which I can measure the melting point of the peptide without denaturing it.

PoKaa
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  • What kind of measurements are you going to perform? What kind of samples does the instrument usually handle? – Buck Thorn Nov 04 '19 at 13:07
  • Let me ask: are you sure that you are talking about denaturation properly? You are worried about changes in conformation or about chemical transformations? –  Nov 04 '19 at 19:14
  • Do you know about the coupled matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization MALDI-(e.g.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix-assisted_laser_desorption/ionization) which is considered as soft technique? Often, it is coupled with a time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF-MS). The residence time for a sample in a TOF (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-of-flight_mass_spectrometry) is in the range of microseconds, but since you consume very little material per analysis, you may repeat the analyses again, and again. – Buttonwood Nov 04 '19 at 22:32
  • I will be getting UV and IR spectrum of the molecule in the gas phase, from which I will be able to understand the conformation of the tripeptide in the absence of any external interaction (interaction between molecules and with the solvent). REMPI_TOF_MS is a common procedure for the study. A knowledgable person asked me about the melting point of my peptide. I can't just heat my peptide to find its melting point, as the peptide won't remain as such upon heating (due to denaturation, the structure, the bonds might break). I am looking for other methods. – PoKaa Nov 05 '19 at 19:52

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