The microwave spectrum of neurotransmitter serotonin

Abstract

A laser ablation device in combination with a molecular beam Fourier-transform microwave spectrometer has allowed the observation of the rotational spectrum of serotonin for the first time. Three conformers of the neurotransmitter have been detected and characterized in the 4–10 GHz frequency range. The complicated hyperfine structure arising from the presence of two ¹⁴N nuclei has been fully resolved for all conformers and used for their identification. Nuclear quadrupole coupling constants of the nitrogen atom of the side chain have been used to determine the orientation of the amino group probing the existence of N–H⋯π interactions involving the amino group and the pyrrole unit in the Gauche-Phenyl conformer (GPh) or the phenyl unit in the Gauche-Pyrrole (GPy) ones.