Hydrogen—deuterium exchange at non-labile sites: A new reaction facet with broad implications for structural and dynamic determinations

Hydrogen-deuterium exchange at non-labile sites is reported. The conjugate bases of isophthalic acid (m-C6H4(CO2H)2), 2-oxoglutaric acid (HO2CCOCH2CH2CO2H), and 2-methylisophthalic acid (2-CH3-1,3-C6H4(CO2H)2) undergo scrambling with 1, 2, and 3 carbon-centered hydrogens under a variety of conditions. Likewise, protonated 2-(m-methoxyphenyl)-ethylamine ((m-CH3OC6H4)CH2CH2NH2) undergoes up to 5 H/D exchanges upon gentle activation whereas the conjugate acid of 2-phenylethylamine (C6H5CH2CH2NH2) requires the presence of ammonia-d3 in order to be pushed to undergo up to 8 H/D exchanges. The very act of electrospraying ions can result in extensive movement of deuterium to carbon centers and, in some cases, could not be prevented. These findings offer great promise for future exploitation but also suggest that the interpretation of many H/D exchange experiments using mass spectrometry as the analytical tool could be in error.