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Title: Is Dissociation of Peptide Radical Cations an Ergodic Process?

Journal Article · · Journal of the American Chemical Society, 129(31):9598-9599
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ja073748r· OSTI ID:915302

Achieving a fundamental understanding of the mechanism of unimolecular dissociation of internally excited complex molecules is one of the most important challenges in modern mass spectrometry. One of the central questions is whether the dissociation of large molecules is properly described by statistical theories—RRKM/QET or Phase Space Theories —that have proved to be remarkably successful both for small molecules and a number of small and medium size peptides. The concept question is whether the ergodic assumption that the internal excitation of the ion is randomly redistributed among the vibrational degrees of freedom prior to fragmentation is satisfied for large molecules. The validity of the ergodic hypothesis for dissociation of gas-phase biomolecules has been recently reviewed and will be only briefly discussed here.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
915302
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-55506; JACSAT; 14395; 24494; KC0302020; TRN: US200817%%310
Journal Information:
Journal of the American Chemical Society, 129(31):9598-9599, Vol. 129, Issue 31; ISSN 0002-7863
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English