Influence of the environment on the fragmentation of amino acids provoked by low-energy ions

With highly charged ions at low energy, molecules can be ionised on fs timescale at large distances without appreciable energy transfer. Their interaction with small amino acids leads to the fragmentation by cleavage of the weakest bond similarly to the other radiation induced fragmentation. A protective effect of the environment is observed when the molecules are embedded in a cluster of amino acids. The molecular cluster acts as a buffer dissipating the excess energy.