Fragmentation of imidazole, pyrimidine and purine induced by core ionization: Significance of small-scale chemical environment

: Itala E, Granroth S, Ha DT, Kooser K, Levola H, Rachlew E, Tanzer K, Kukk E

Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA

: 2018

: Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry

: JOURNAL OF PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY A-CHEMISTRY

: J PHOTOCH PHOTOBIO A

: 356

: 283

: 289

: 7

: 1010-6030

: 1873-2666

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2018.01.003

Fragmentation of imidazole, pyrimidine and purine into pairs of cations induced by carbon is core ionization was studied. All three molecules favor two-body fragmentation accompanied with a number of hydrogen ejections. In addition, also the formation of CH1,2N+ strongly characterizes the fragmentation of imidazole, pyrimidine and purine. As purine is a fusion of imidazole and pyrimidine rings, the measurements carried out also provided a possibility to study how the fragmentation changes when an isolated imidazole or pyrimidine molecule becomes a part of a larger structure. Furthermore, the previous studies on two pyrimidine derivatives, thymine and uracil, also provide an opportunity to see how the attachment of simple functional groups affect the fragmentation of pyrimidine. The results suggest that the fragmentation of pyrimidine is rather sensitive to any structural or environmental changes, unlike the fragmentation of imidazole. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.