Theoretical Study of Ultrafast Electron Dynamics in Amino Acids

D Ayuso,P Decleva,A Palacios,F Martín

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/635/11/112129

Abstract

SynopsisPrompt ionization of large biological molecules may induce ultrafast charge migration along the molecular skeleton, preceding any nuclear rearrangement. This phenomenon has been recently observed in the amino acid phenylalanine in a two-color pump probe experiment, where the production of ionic fragments was measured as a function of the time delay between the two pulses and charge fluctuations manifested as sub-4.5 fs oscillations in the quantum yield of a specific doubly charged fragment. We present our latest results in glycine, and compare with previous findings in phenylalanine. We seek to perform a systematic study including larger aminoacids such as tryptophan.

Highlights

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Synopsis Prompt ionization of large biological molecules may induce ultrafast charge migration along the molecular skeleton, preceding any nuclear rearrangement[1, 2]. This phenomenon has been recently observed in the amino acid phenylalanine [3] in a two-color pump probe experiment, where the production of ionic fragments was measured as a function of the time delay between the two pulses and charge fluctuations manifested as sub-4.5 fs oscillations in the quantum yield of a specific doubly charged fragment
We present our latest results in glycine, and compare with previous findings in phenylalanine [3]

Summary

Introduction

This content has been downloaded from IOPscience. Please scroll down to see the full text. 2015 J. Synopsis Prompt ionization of large biological molecules may induce ultrafast charge migration along the molecular skeleton, preceding any nuclear rearrangement[1, 2]. This phenomenon has been recently observed in the amino acid phenylalanine [3] in a two-color pump probe experiment, where the production of ionic fragments was measured as a function of the time delay between the two pulses and charge fluctuations manifested as sub-4.5 fs oscillations in the quantum yield of a specific doubly charged fragment.

Results

Conclusion