Reactions in the Radiosensitizer Misonidazole Induced by Low-Energy (0-10 eV) Electrons.

Misonidazole (MISO) was considered as radiosensitizer for the treatment of hypoxic tumors. A prerequisite for entering a hypoxic cell is reduction of the drug, which may occur in the early physical-chemical stage of radiation damage. Here we study electron attachment to MISO and find that it very effectively captures low energy electrons to form the non-decomposed molecular anion.

Low-energy electrons transform the nimorazole molecule into a radiosensitiser.

While matter is irradiated with highly-energetic particles, it may become chemically modified. Thereby, the reactions of free low-energy electrons (LEEs) formed as secondary particles play an important role. It is unknown to what degree and by which mechanism LEEs contribute to the action of electron-affinic radiosensitisers applied in radiotherapy of hypoxic tumours.

High-Resolution Electron Attachment to the Water Dimer Embedded in Helium Droplets: Direct Observation of the Electronic Conduction Band Formation.

For bulk liquid helium the bottom of the conduction band (V) is above the vacuum level. In this case the surface of the liquid represents an electronic surface barrier for an electron to be injected into the liquid. Here we study the electronic conduction band for doped helium droplets of different sizes.

Reactions in Nitroimidazole and Methylnitroimidazole Triggered by Low-Energy (0-8 eV) Electrons.

Low-energy electrons (0-8 eV) effectively decompose 4-nitroimidazole (4NI) and the two methylated isomers 1-methyl-5-nitroimidazole and 1-methyl-4-nitroimidazole via dissociative electron attachment (DEA). The involved unimolecular decompositions range from simple bond cleavages (loss of H(•), formation of NO2(-)) to complex reactions possibly leading to a complete degradation of the target molecule (formation of CN(-), etc.).

Reactions in nitroimidazole triggered by low-energy (0-2 eV) electrons: methylation at N1-H completely blocks reactivity.

Low-energy electrons (LEEs) at energies of less than 2 eV effectively decompose 4-nitroimidazole (4NI) by dissociative electron attachment (DEA). The reactions include simple bond cleavages but also complex reactions involving multiple bond cleavages and formation of new molecules. Both simple and complex reactions are associated with pronounced sharp features in the anionic yields, which are interpreted as vibrational Feshbach resonances acting as effective doorways for DEA.

Reactions in 1,1,1-trifluoroacetone triggered by low energy electrons (0-10 eV): from simple bond cleavages to complex unimolecular reactions.

The impact of low energy electrons (0-10 eV) to 1,1,1-trifluoroacetone yields a variety of fragment anions which are formed via dissociative electron attachment (DEA) through three pronounced resonances located at 0.8 eV, near 4 eV, and in the energy range 8-9 eV. The fragment ions arise from different reactions ranging from the direct cleavage of one single or double bond (formation of F(-), CF3(-), O(-), (M-H)(-), and M-F)(-)) to remarkably complex unimolecular reactions associated with substantial geometric and electronic rearrangement in the transitory intermediate (formation of OH(-), FHF(-), (M-HF)(-), CCH(-), and HCCO(-).

Electron attachment to CO2 embedded in superfluid He droplets.

Electron attachment to CO2 embedded in superfluid He droplets leads to ionic complexes of the form (CO2)n(-) and (CO2)nO(-) and, at much lower intensities, He containing ions of the form Hem(CO2)nO(-). At low energies (<5 eV), predominantly the non-decomposed complexes (CO2)n(-) are formed via two resonance contributions, similar to electron attachment to pristine CO2 clusters. The significantly different shapes and relative resonance positions, however, indicate particular quenching and mediation processes in CO2@He.

Electron ionization of different large perfluoroethers embedded in ultracold helium droplets: effective freezing of short-lived decomposition intermediates.

Rationale: Electron ionization of three perfluoroethers (PFEs), C(6)F(14)O(3), C(8)F(18)O(4), and C(10)F(20)O(5), is studied in the gas phase and when the molecules are embedded in ultracold helium (He) droplets. The molecules investigated are model compounds for perfluoropolyethers used as lubricants in technical applications. The present study gives insight into possible radiolysis pathways upon radiation exposure.

Strong fragmentation processes driven by low energy electron attachment to various small perfluoroether molecules.

Negative ion formation in the three perfluoroethers (PFEs) diglyme (C(6)F(14)O(3)), triglyme (C(8)F(18)O(4)) and crownether (C(10)F(20)O(5)) is studied following electron attachment in the range from ∼0 to 15 eV. All three compounds show intense low energy resonances at subexcitation energies (<3 eV) decomposing into a variety of negatively charged fragments. These fragment ions are generated via dissociative electron attachment (DEA), partly originating from sequential decompositions on the metastable (μs) time scale as observed from the MIKE (metastable induced kinetic energy) scans.

Low energy (0-10 eV) electron driven reactions in the halogenated organic acids CCl3COOH, CClF2COOH, and CF3CHNH2COOH (trifluoroalanine).

Negative ion formation following resonant electron attachment to the three title molecules is studied by means of a beam experiment with mass spectrometric detection of the anions. All three molecules exhibit a pronounced resonance in the energy range around 1 eV which decomposes by the loss of a neutral hydrogen atom thereby generating the closed shell anion (M-H)(-) (or RCOO(-)), a reaction which is also a common feature in the non-substituted organic acids. The two chlorine containing molecules CCl(3)COOH and CClF(2)COOH exhibit an additional strong and narrow resonance at very low energy (close to 0 eV) which decomposes by the cleavage of the C-Cl bond with the excess charge finally localised on either of the two fragments Cl(-) and (M-Cl)(-).

Electron induced reactions in molecular nanofilms of chlorodifluoroacetic acid (CClF2COOH): desorption of fragment anions and formation of CO2.

Electron induced reactions in molecular nanofilms of chlorodifluoroacetic acid (CClF(2)COOH) are studied by electron stimulated desorption (ESD) of fragment anions and temperature programed thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). The fragment anions O(-), F(-), OH(-), and Cl(-) are formed from broad resonance features in the energy range of 4-14 eV and assigned to dissociative electron attachment (DEA) of molecules or dimers at or near the surface of the film, followed by desorption. The strong low energy DEA resonances (0-2 eV) observed in a previous gas phase study [J.

Low energy (0-4 eV) electron impact to N(2)O clusters: Dissociative electron attachment, ion-molecule reactions, and vibrational Feshbach resonances.

Electron attachment to clusters of N(2)O in the energy range of 0-4 eV yields the ionic complexes [(N(2)O)(n)O](-), [(N(2)O)(n)NO](-), and (N(2)O)(n) (-) . The shape of the ion yields of the three homologous series differs substantially reflecting the different formation mechanisms. While the generation of [(N(2)O)(n)O](-) can be assigned to dissociative electron attachment (DEA) of an individual N(2)O molecule in the target cluster, the formation of [(N(2)O)(n)NO](-) is interpreted via a sequence of ion molecule reactions involving the formation of O(-) via DEA in the first step.

High resolution electron attachment to CO₂ clusters.

Electron attachment to CO₂ clusters performed at high energy resolution (0.1 eV) is studied for the first time in the extended electron energy range from threshold (0 eV) to about 10 eV. Dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to single molecules yields O(-) as the only fragment ion arising from the well known (2)Π(u) shape resonance (ion yield centered at 4.

Low-energy electron attachment to the dichlorodifluoromethane (CCl2F2) molecule.

Results from a joint experimental study of electron attachment to dichlorodifluoromethane (CCl(2)F(2)) molecules in the gas phase are reported. In a high resolution electron beam experiment involving two versions of the laser photoelectron attachment method, the relative cross section for formation of the dominant anion Cl(-) was measured over the energy range 0.001-1.

Very low energy electrons transform the cyclobutane-pyrimidine dimer into a highly reactive intermediate.

Electrons with virtually no kinetic energy (close to 0 eV) trigger the decomposition of cytotoxic cyclobutane-pyrimidine dimer (CPD) into a surprisingly large variety of fragment ions plus their neutral counterparts. The response of CPD to low energy electrons is thus comparable to that of explosives like trinitrotoluene (TNT). The dominant unimolecular reaction is the splitting into two thymine like units, which can be considered as the essential molecular step in the photolyase of CPD.

Electron attachment to trinitrotoluene (TNT) embedded in He droplets: complete freezing of dissociation intermediates in an extended range of electron energies.

Electron attachment to the explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT) embedded in Helium droplets (TNT@He) generates the non-decomposed complexes (TNT)(n)(-), but no fragment ions in the entire energy range 0-12 eV. This strongly contrasts the behavior of single TNT molecules in the gas phase at ambient temperatures, where electron capture leads to a variety of different fragmentation products via different dissociative electron attachment (DEA) reactions. Single TNT molecules decompose by attachment of an electron at virtually no extra energy reflecting the explosive nature of the compound.

Reactions in gas phase and condensed phase C6F5X (X = NCO, CH2CN) triggered by low energy electrons.

Electron attachment to gas phase perfluorophenylisocyanate (C(6)F(5)NCO) and perfluorophenyloacetonitrile (C(6)F(5)CH(2)CN) generates metastable parent anions within a very narrow resonance close to zero energy. At higher energies (2-7 eV), dissociative electron attachment (DEA) resonances are present, associated with the rupture of the C(6)F(5)-X bond (X = NCO, CH(2)CN) with the excess electron finally localised on either of the two fragments. The most intense fragment ion from C(6)F(5)CH(2)CN (M) is (M - HF)(-), which arises from the loss of a neutral HF from the transient anion and requires the concerted cleavage of two bonds and formation of a new molecule (HF).

Chemistry induced by low-energy electrons in condensed multilayers of ammonia and carbon dioxide.

We have investigated by means of HREEL spectroscopy electron induced reactivity in a binary CO2 : NH3 ice mixture. It was shown that the interaction of low energy electrons (9-20 eV) with such mixtures induces the synthesis of neutral carbamic acid NH2COOH and that flashing the sample at 140 K induces the formation of ammonium carbamate. The products have been assigned by FTIR spectroscopy of a CO2 : NH3 mixture heated from 10 K to 240 K.

Excision of CN(-) and OCN(-) from acetamide and some amide derivatives triggered by low energy electrons.

Low energy electron attachment to acetamide and some of its derivatives shows unique features in that the unimolecular reactions of the transient anions are remarkably complex, involving multiple bond cleavages and the formation of new molecules. Each of the three compounds acetamide (CH(3)C(O)NH(2)), glycolamide (CH(2)OHC(O)NH(2)) and cyanoacetamide (CH(2)CNC(O)NH(2)) shows a pronounced resonance located near 2 eV and decomposing into CN(-) along a concerted reaction forming a neutral H(2)O molecule and the corresponding radical (methyl and methoxy). From glycolamide an additional reaction pathway resulting in the loss of water is operative, in this case generating two fragments and observable via the complementary anion (M-H(2)O)(-).

Electron capture by pentafluoronitrobenzene and pentafluorobenzonitrile.

Electron attachment to pentafluorobenzonitrile (C(6)F(5)CN) and pentafluoronitrobenzene (C(6)F(5)NO(2)) is studied in the energy range 0-16 eV by means of a crossed electron-molecular beam experiment with mass spectrometric detection of the anions. We find that pentafluoronitrobenzene exclusively generates fragment anions via dissociative electron attachment (DEA), while pentafluorobenzonitrile forms a long lived parent anion within a narrow energy range close to 0 eV and additionally undergoes DEA at higher energies. This is in contrast to the behaviour of the non-fluorinated analogues as in nitrobenzene the non-decomposed anion is formed while in benzonitrile only DEA is observed.

Dissociative electron attachment to gas phase glycine: exploring the decomposition pathways by mass separation of isobaric fragment anions.

Dissociative electron attachment to gas phase glycine generates a number of fragment ions, among them ions observed at the mass numbers 15, 16 and 26 amu. From stoichiometry they can be assigned to the chemically rather different species NH(-)/CH(3)(-)(15 amu), O(-)/NH(2)(-)(16 amu) and CN(-)/C(2)H(2)(-)(26 amu). Here we use a high resolution double focusing two sector mass spectrometer to separate these isobaric ions.

Hyperthermal (1-100 eV) nitrogen ion scattering damage to D-ribose and 2-deoxy-D-ribose films.

Highly charged heavy ion traversal of a biological medium can produce energetic secondary fragment ions. These fragment ions can in turn cause collisional and reactive scattering damage to DNA. Here we report hyperthermal (1-100 eV) scattering of one such fragment ion (N(+)) from biologically relevant sugar molecules D-ribose and 2-deoxy-D-ribose condensed on polycrystalline Pt substrate.