Structure of valinomycin-K+ complex in solution by extended x-ray absorption fine structure.

We used synchrotron radiation to measure the K-edge absorption spectra of the potassium ion in valinomycin-K+ complexes dissolved in ethanol and methanol. Our motivation is to study the structure of valinomycin around the potassium ion and the effect of solvents. From the extended x-ray absorption fine structure, we found that the mean distance from potassium to its coordination atoms, oxygen, is the same for both solvents, 2.79 +/- 0.02 A, compared with 2.76 A in crystal. The K-edge threshold spectra of the two solutions are almost identical but have a small difference in their relative peak intensities. The coincidence of their corresponding peak positions indicates that the strength of ligand field is about the same in these two samples. This agrees with the known binding energies of potassium ion to valinomycin in solutions. The difference in the relative peak intensities suggests a perturbation of ligand symmetry by solvents.