Stability of the glycine cation in the gas phase after interaction with multiply charged ions

This study presents a coupled experimental and theoretical work on the stability of singly charged glycine molecules (NH2CH2COOH+, the simplest amino acid) produced in the collision of neutral glycine with low-energy multiply charged ions in the gas phase. The main fragments observed experimentally result from Cα-Ccarboxyl bond cleavage. Additionally, some fragments are produced after an intramolecular rearrangement of the glycine cation, in particular the loss of a neutral water molecule following a H-migration. Moreover, this work discusses qualitatively the energy transferred to the molecule in the collision with a comparative study of the fragmentation patterns for different projectile ion charge states.