Johny, Melby; Schouder, Constant A; Al-Refaie, Ahmed; He, Lanhai; Wiese, Joss; Stapelfeldt, Henrik; Trippel, Sebastian; Johny, Melby; Schouder, Constant A; Al-Refaie, Ahmed; He, Lanhai; Wiese, Joss; Stapelfeldt, Henrik; Trippel, Sebastian; Küpper, Jochen; - view fewer (2024) Water is a radiation protection agent for ionised pyrrole. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics , 26 pp. 13118-13130. 10.1039/d3cp03471b.

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Abstract

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. Utilising well defined solvated-molecule aggregates, we experimentally observed a hydrogen-bonded water molecule acting as a radiation protection agent for ionised pyrrole, a prototypical aromatic biomolecule. Pure samples of pyrrole and pyrrole(H2O) were outer-valence ionised and the subsequent damage and relaxation processes were studied. Bare pyrrole ions fragmented through the breaking of C–C or N–C covalent bonds. However, for pyrrole(H2O)+, 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. Overall, a single water molecule strongly reduces the fragmentation probability and thus the persistent radiation damage of singly-ionised pyrrole.

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