Fragmentation patterns of N-methylacetamide at resonant K-shell excitation

by Peter Salén (SU Fysikum)

Monday 14 Oct 2013, 13:00 → 14:00 Europe/Stockholm

FA31

I will present results from recent experiments performed at the Elettra synchrotron light source at Trieste, Italy. We employed mass spectroscopy in order to investigate the fragmentation patterns of N-methylacetamide (CH3CONHCH3), by resonant K-shell electron excitation. In order to be able to distinguish between the methyl groups at the ends of the molecule, measurements were also performed with the deuterated form CH3CONHCD3. N-methylacetamide is a biologically relevant molecule since it contains the key bonds of proteins, the peptide bond and C_alpha-bonds. The fact that K-shell excitations are localized at a specific site of the molecule suggests that one may be able to control the fragmentation of the molecule and ultimately perform site-selective bond scission. The goal of the research was to investigate the connection between a specific resonance excitation and the breaking of particular bonds.