Ion-neutral complexes of pentaalalanine with several singly- and doubly charged metal ions are examined using conformation analysis by infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) computations. The infrared spectroscopy in the 1500-1800 cm(-1) region is found to be conformationally informative; in particular, the frequency of the C=O stretching mode of the terminal carboxyl group is diagnostic for hydrogen bonding of the terminal hydroxyl. The doubly charged alkaline earth metal ions (Ca2+ and Ba2+) enforce a highly structured chelation shell around the metal ion, with six strongly bound Lewis-basic chelation sites, and no hydroxyl hydrogen bonding. With the more weakly binding alkali metal ions (Na+, K+, and Cs+), structures with intramolecular hydrogen bonds are more favorable, leading to dominance of conformations with lower degrees of metal ion chelation. The favored coordination mode correlates with ionic charge and binding strength but is not related to the ionic radius of the metal ion.