Decongestion of methylene spectra in biological and non-biological systems using picosecond 2DIR spectroscopy measuring electron-vibration-vibration coupling

Methylene is found in the repeat units of many polymers including proteins. In some cases it appears to be a useful reporter of variation in local environment whilst in other contexts average behaviour seems to dominate. In this paper we apply a particular 2DIR technique to a range of systems containing methylene groups, showing that mode frequencies, linewidths and splittings can be easily extracted even when the infrared absorption bands are too congested to allow reliable analysis. 2DIR spectra of polyethylene and several liquid alkanes are compared and it is shown for the case of l-arginine that the methylene scissor modes are split and that this can be resolved by tracking the 2DIR spectrum as a function of time. Calculations from first principles reveal that for most of the methylene modes studied, electrical anharmonicity is the dominant contributor to the 2DIR cross-peak intensity, with the mechanical anharmonicity making only a small contribution.