Collision-induced dissociation (CID) of guanine radical cation in the gas phase: an experimental and computational study

Gas-phase guanine (G) radical cations were generated by electrospraying a solution of guanosine (L) and Cu(NO3)2. Collision-induced dissociation (CID) for guanine radical cations yielded five competing dissociation channels, corresponding to the elimination neutral molecules of NH3, HCN, H2NCN (HNCNH), HNCO and the neutral radical ˙NCNH, respectively. The primary product ions were further characterized by their relevant fragmentions. Ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) calculations were employed to explain the experimental observations. Ten stable radical cation isomers were optimized and the potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the isomerization processes were explored in detail. Starting with the most stable isomer, the primary dissociation channels of guanine radical cations were theoretically investigated. DFT calculations show that the energy barriers for the eliminations of NH3, HCN, H2NCN (HNCNH), HNCO and ˙NCNH are 397 kJ mol−1, 479 kJ mol−1, 294 kJ mol−1 (298 kJ mol−1), 306 kJ mol−1, and 275 kJ mol−1, respectively. The results are consistent with the energy-resolved CID of guanine radical cation, in which the eliminations of NH3 and HCN are less abundant than the other channels.