Here we revisit electron transfer processes yielding negative ion formation
in gas-phase collisions of fast neutral potassium atoms (electron donor) and
biomolecular target molecules (electron acceptor) in a crossed molecular-beam
arrangement. The negative ions formed in the interaction region are time-of-flight
(TOF) mass analysed as a function of the collision energy. Selective site and bond
excision in the unimolecular decomposition of the transient negative show clear
dependence on the collision energy.
Keywords: Anions, Attachment, Atom-molecule collisions, DNA/RNA subunits,
DNA-strand breaks, Electron transfer, Electrons, Fragmentation, Gas-phase,
Metastable decay, TOF mass spectrometry, Radiation damage.