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(Ed.)
A combined experimental and theoretical study is presented on the collision-induced dissociation (CID) of 9-methylguanine–1-methylcytosine base-pair radical cation (abbreviated as [9MG·1MC]˙ + ) and its monohydrate ([9MG·1MC]˙ + ·H 2 O) with Xe and Ar gases. Product ion mass spectra were measured as a function of collision energy using guided-ion beam tandem mass spectrometry, from which cross sections and threshold energies for various dissociation pathways were determined. Electronic structure calculations were performed at the DFT, RI-MP2 and DLPNO-CCSD(T) levels of theory to identify product structures and map out reaction potential energy surfaces. [9MG·1MC]˙ + has two structures: a conventional structure 9MG˙ + ·1MC (population 87%) consisting of hydrogen-bonded 9-methylguanine radical cation and neutral 1-methylcytosine, and a proton-transferred structure [9MG − H]˙·[1MC + H] + (less stable, population 13%) formed by intra-base-pair proton transfer from the N1 of 9MG˙ + to the N3 of 1MC within 9MG˙ + ·1MC. The two structures have similar dissociation energies but can be distinguished in that 9MG˙ + ·1MC dissociates into 9MG˙ + and 1MC whereas [9MG – H]˙·[1MC + H] + dissociates into neutral [9MG – H]˙ radical and protonated [1MC + H] + . An intriguing finding is that, in both Xe- and Ar-induced CID of [9MG·1MC]˙ + , product ions were overwhelmingly dominated by [1MC + H] + , which is contrary to product distributions predicted using a statistical reaction model. Monohydration of [9MG·1MC]˙ + reversed the populations of the conventional structure (43%) vs. the proton-transferred structure (57%) and induced new reactions upon collisional activation, of which intra-base-pair hydrogen transfer produced [9MG + H] + and the reaction of the water ligand with a methyl group in [9MG·1MC]˙ + led to methanol elimination from [9MG·1MC]˙ + ·H 2 O.
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