Dehalogenation of 5-halo-uracil molecules induced by 100 keV proton collisions.

Neutral and cationic halogen loss of singly and doubly ionised 5-X-uracil (X = F, Cl, Br, I) after collisions with 100 keV protons have been studied in the gas phase. The rates of these dissociation channels are strongly dependant on the nature of the halogen substituent. It is very weak in the case of fluorine but is a dominant channel for iodine.