Gas phase protonated guanine-cytosine (CGH) pair was generated using an electrospray ionization source from solutions at two different pH (5.8 and 3.2). Consistent evidence from MS/MS fragmentation patterns and differential ion mobility spectra (DIMS) point toward the presence of two isomers of the CGH pair, whose relative populations depend strongly on the pH of the solution. Gas phase infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy in the 900-1900 cm spectral range further confirms that the Watson-Crick isomer is preferentially produced (91%) at pH = 5.8, while the Hoogsteen isomer predominates (66%) at pH = 3.2). These fingerprint signatures are expected to be useful for the development of new analytical methodologies and to trigger isomer selective photochemical studies of protonated DNA base pairs.

An experimental and theoretical study of the photoionization energies (IE's) of Ba(H(2)O)(n) clusters containing up to n = 4 water molecules has been performed. The clusters were generated by a pick-up source combining laser vaporization with pulsed supersonic expansion, and then photoionized by radiation of 272.5-340 nm. The experimentally determined IE(e)'s for n = 1 to 4 are 4.56 ± 0.05, 4.26 ± 0.05, 3.90 ± 0.05 and 3.71 ± 0.05 eV. This cluster size dependence of IE is reproduced within ±0.06 eV employing the mPW1PW91 density-functional and CCSD(T, Full) quantum-chemical methods combined with the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set for the H and O atoms and three different relativistic effective core potentials for Ba atoms. The calculations indicate that the lowest energy hydration structures represent the most relevant contributions to both the vertical and adiabatic ionization energies. Experimental and theoretical evidence correlates with the progressive surface-delocalization of the electron from the hydration cavity around the Ba atom and suggests that the intra-cluster electron transfer is possible even for small aggregates.

The ionization energies (IE e´s)Altogether, the present evidence suggests for the initial steps of the BaOH hydration process to be dominated by electrostatic and polarization interactions between the Ba + and OH -ion cores, which become both increasingly solvated upon sequential addition of water molecules.

The structure of peptide fragments was studied using "action" IR spectroscopy. We report on room temperature IR spectra of b4 fragments of protonated GGGGG, AAAAA, and YGGFL in the X-H (X = C, N, O) stretching region. Experiments were performed with a tandem mass spectrometer combined with a table top tunable laser, and the multiple photon absorption process was assisted using an auxiliary high-power CO2 laser. These experiments provided well-resolved spectra with relatively narrow peaks in the X-H (X = C, N, O) stretching region for the b4 fragments of protonated GGGGG, AAAAA, and YGGFL. The 3200-3700 cm(-1) range of the first two of these spectra are rather similar, and the corresponding peaks can be assigned on the basis of the classical b ion structure that has a linear backbone terminated by the oxazolone ring at the C-terminus and ionizing proton residing on the oxazolone ring nitrogen. The spectrum of the b4 of YGGFL, on the other hand, is different from the two others and is characterized by a band observed near 3238 cm(-1). Similar band positions have recently been reported for one of the four isomers of the b4 of YGGFL studied using double resonance IR/UV technique. As proposed in this study, the IR spectrum of this ion at room temperature can also be assigned to a linear N-terminal amine protonated oxazolone structure. However, an alternative assignment could be proposed because our room temperature IR spectrum of the b4 of YGGFL nicely matches with the predicted IR absorption spectrum of a macrocyclic structure. Because not all experimental IR features are unambiguously assigned on the basis of the available literature structures, further theoretical studies will be required to fully exploit the benefits offered by IR spectroscopy in the X-H (X = C, N, O) stretching region.

Various electronic states of Ba, from ground state up to 2.24eV (S01, DJ3, D21, P13, and P11) together with Ba+(P3∕22), were produced by 1064nm high-irradiance pulsed nanosecond laser ablation of Ba in vacuum. The velocity distribution for every species was obtained from time-of-flight measurements, using pulsed laser induced fluorescence or time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy, as applicable to each species. The distributions are bimodal, Maxwell-Boltzmann functions for S01, DJ3, and D21 and shifted Maxwell-Boltzmann for the rest of the states, with different peak velocities and average, hyperthermal translational temperatures. Possible mechanisms for the production of these velocity distributions are discussed.

The chemiluminescent reaction Ba(6s6p (3)P)+N(2)O was studied at an average collision energy of 1.56 eV in a beam-gas arrangement. Ba((3)P) was produced by laser ablation of barium, which resulted in a broad collision energy distribution extending up to approximately 5.7 eV. A series of experiments was made to extract the Ba((3)P) contribution to chemiluminescence from that corresponding to Ba 6s(2) (1)S0 and 6s5d (3)D, which are the other two most populated states in the atomic beam. The fully dispersed polarized chemiluminescence spectra at 400-600 nm from the title reaction were recorded and assigned to a BaO molecule excited in the A (1)Sigma+ level. In addition, the average and wavelength-resolved degrees of polarization associated to the parallel BaO(A (1)Sigma+-->X (1)Sigma+) emission are reported. The analysis of the average polarization degree show that the BaO(A (1)Sigma+) product is significantly aligned, suggesting that the reaction mechanism is predominantly direct. The product rotational alignment was found to depend markedly on the emission wavelength, which revealed a negative correlation with the BaO(A (1)Sigma+) product vibrational state. On the basis of experimental and theoretical investigations on the reactions of N(2)O with both the (1)S0, (3)D, and (1)P1 states of Ba and the lighter group 2 atoms, it is suggested that the Ba((3)P) reaction involves a charge transfer at relatively short reagent separations and that restricted collision geometries at the highest velocity components of the broad distribution are necessary to rationalize the data.

The plumes accompanying 1064 nm nanosecond pulsed laser ablation of barium in vacuum at three moderate incident laser fluences in the range of 5.3-10.8 J / cm 2 have been studied using both wavelength and time resolved optical emission spectroscopy and time-of-flight laser-induced fluorescence. Neutral atoms and both singly and doubly charged monatomic cations in excited states up to near the corresponding ionization limits are identified in the optical emission spectra. The population distributions of low-lying ͑Յ1.41 eV͒ "dark" states of Ba atoms measured by laser-induced fluorescence revel that the metastable 3 D J and 1 D 2 abundances in the plume are higher than predictions based on assuming a Boltzmann distribution. The 3 D J and 1 D 2 populations are seen, respectively, to decrease slightly and nearly no vary with raising fluence, which contrasts with the increasing trend that is observed in the ground-state Ba͑ 1 S 0 ͒ population. At all fluences, the time-of-flight distributions of the whole dark states and of various of the emitting levels are bimodal and well described by Maxwell-Boltzmann and shifted Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity functions, respectively, with different average translational temperatures ͗T͘ for each state. The ͗T͘ values for the dark states are insensitive to the fluence, while for all emitting species marked variations of ͗T͘ with fluence are found. These observations have been rationalized in terms of material ejection from the target being dominated by a phase explosion mechanism, which is the main contributor to the Ba͑ 1 S 0 ͒ population. Thermionic emission from the target surface can also release initial densities of free electrons and cations which, at the prevailing irradiances, will arguably interact with the incident laser radiation by inverse bremsstrahlung, leading to further excitation and ionization of the various plume species. Such a heating mechanism ensures that the energy injected to the plume will alter the propagation velocities of the primary inverse bremsstrahlung absorbers, i.e., cations, to a major extent than those of neutral atoms with increasing fluence. Electron-ion recombination occurring early in the plume expansion can lead to the generation of both neutral and ionic species in a manifold of long-lived Rydberg states, from which a radiative cascade will likely ensue. The distinct fluence dependences of the Ba͑ 3 D J ͒ and Ba͑ 1 D 2 ͒ populations and velocity distributions show up the major complexity that distinguishes their populating mechanisms with respect to the remaining species.

An experimental and theoretical study on the reactivity of neutral Ba atoms with water clusters has been conducted to unravel the origin of the irregular intensity pattern observed in one-photon ionization mass spectra of a Ba(H(2)O)(n)/BaOH(H(2)O)(n-1) (n = 1-4) cluster distribution, which was generated in a laser vaporization-supersonic expansion source. The most remarkable irregular feature is the finding for n = 1 of a lower intensity for the Ba(+)(H(2)O)(n) peak with respect to that of BaOH(+)(H(2)O)(n-1), which is opposite to the trend for n = 2-4. Rationalization of the data required consideration of a distinct behavior of ground-state and electronically excited state Ba atoms in inelastic and reactive Ba + (H(2)O)(n) encounters that can occur in the cluster source. Within this picture, the generation of Ba(H(2)O)(n) (n > 1) association products results from stabilizing collisions with atoms of the carrier gas, which are favored by intramolecular vibrational redistribution that operates on the corresponding collision intermediates prior to stabilization; the latter is unlikely to occur for Ba + (H(2)O) encounters. Overall, this interpretation is consistent with additional in-source laser excitation and quenching experiments, which aimed to explore qualitatively the effect of perturbing the Ba atom electronic state population distribution on the observed intensity pattern, as well as with the energetics of various possible reactions for the Ba + H(2)O system that derive from high level ab initio calculations.