Ion desorption from DNA components irradiated with 0.5 keV ultrasoft X-ray photons

Fujii, Kentaro; Akamatsu, Ken; Yokoya, Akinari

Positive ion desorption from thin films of DNA components, 2-deoxy-D-ribose, thymine, thymidine (dThd), and thymidine 5' -monophosphate (dTMP) has been investigated in the oxygen K-edge excitation region using synchrotron ultrasoft X-rays (538 eV). The mass patterns of dThd and dTMP, especially that of dTMP, were similar to that of 2-deoxy-D-ribose, indicating that a number of ions were generated at the sugar site, even in the nucleotide molecule. It is therefore it is predicted that the sugar is a more fragile site than the thymine base.