Collisions with biomolecules embedded in smallwater clusters

• We have studied fragmentation of water embedded adenosine 5’-monophosphate(AMP) anions after collisions with neutral sodium atoms. At a collision energy of 50 keV,loss of water molecules from the collisionally excited cluster ions is the dominant process andfragmentation of the AMP itself is almost completely prohibited if the number of attachedwater molecules is larger than 13. However, regardless of the initial number of water moleculesattached to the ion, capture of an electron, i.e. formation of a dianion, always leads to loss ofa single hydrogen atom accompanied by evaporation of water molecules. This damaging effectbecomes more important as the size of the water cluster increases, which is just the oppositeto the protective behavior observed for collision induced dissociation (CID) without electrontransfer. For both cases, the loss of water molecules within the experimental time frame isqualitatively well described by means of a common model of an evaporative ensemble. Thesesimulations, however, indicate that characteristically different distributions of internal energyare involved in CID and electron capture induced dissociation.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Atom- och molekylfysik och optik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Biophysics

biofysik

fysik

Physics

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)