Charge Driven Fragmentation of Nucleobases

We studied multiple ionization of single nucleobases by means of slow highly charged ions (Xe^q+, q=5–25). The products of the subsequent fragmentation were studied using high resolution coincidence time-of-flight spectrometry. We observed a strong dependence of the fragment kinetic energies on the initial charge state of the intermediate parent ions as well as on the initial chemical environment of the respective fragment ions within the parent molecule. The data allow us to shed light on the charge distribution within the molecule as well as on the fragmentation dynamics of these intermediate size systems.