Slow ion collisions involving molecules of biological interest

In recent years the interest in studying collision induced processes with biomolecular species has increased considerably, not only motivated by the aim to better understand the fundamental fragmentation processes at the molecular level, but also due the relevance of these processes in radiation damage schemes and their possible importance for cancer therapy applications. Whereas collision studies with fast ions, x-rays and electrons have started out much earlier, the interest in slow ion collisions is more recent as it was recognised that they may play an important role as primary particles when high-energy ions are slowed down due to the interaction with matter to the so-called Bragg Peak energy, where most of the energy is deposited, or as slow recoil particles produced along the ion track formed by the primary irradiation. For detailed studies many experiments have been performed in the gas phase with isolated biomolecules applying mass spectrometric techniques. The practical relevance of these studies might be questioned due to the absence of a natural environment. Small biomolecular systems are mostly produced by evaporation techniques, whereas larger ones require the use of Electro Spray or ablation techniques. The latter ones allow also for preparing solvated systems and fore studying the influence of the environment on the fragmentation and dissociation patterns. Thus, experiment