Hydrogen loss from nucleobase nitrogens upon electron attachment to isolated DMA and RNA nucleotide anions

The possibility of transfering an electron from a sodium target gas to gaseous AMP^- nucleotide anion to form a dianion in a 50 keV collision process was demonstrated. It was observed that electron transfer to isolated nucleotide monoanions in collisions with Na vapor induced hydrogen loss from nitrogen of the transient nucleobase anion. The product ions were analyzed with an electrostatic analyzer after collision with sodium vapor. The lifetime of the adenosine 5′ -monophosphate dianions was measured to be 0.2 ms in an electrostatic ion storage ring.