TY  - EJOUR
AU  - Johny, Melby
AU  - Schouder, Constant A.
AU  - Al-Refaie, Ahmed
AU  - He, Lanhai
AU  - Wiese, Joss
AU  - Stapelfeldt, Henrik
AU  - Trippel, Sebastian
AU  - Küpper, Jochen
TI  - Water is a radiation protection agent for ionised pyrrole
IS  - arXiv:2010.00453
M1  - PUBDB-2020-04386
M1  - arXiv:2010.00453
PY  - 2020
AB  - Radiation-induced damage of biological matter is an ubiquitous problem in nature. The influence of the hydration environment is widely discussed, but its exact role remains elusive. We present the experimental observation of a hydrogen-bonded water molecule acting as a radiation protection agent for ionized pyrrole, a prototypical aromatic biomolecule. Pure samples of pyrrole and pyrrole(H<sub>2</sub>O) were outer-valence ionized and the subsequent damage and relaxation processes were studied. Bare pyrrole fragmented through the breaking of the C-C or N-C covalent bonds. However, for pyrrole(H<sub>2</sub>O), we observed a strong protection of the pyrrole ring through the dissociative release of neutral water or by transferring an electron or proton across the hydrogen bond. Furthermore, for pyrrole(H<sub>2</sub>O) a smaller probability for double ionization was observed. Overall, a single water molecule strongly reduces the fragmentation probability and thus the persistent radiation damage of ionized pyrrole.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)25
DO  - DOI:10.3204/PUBDB-2020-04386
UR  - https://bib-pubdb1.desy.de/record/451915
ER  -