Can radical cations of the constituents of nucleic acids be formed in the gas phase using ternary transition metal complexes?

Abstract

Electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) of ternary transition metal complexes of [M(L3)(N)]2+ (where M = copper(II) or platinum(II); L3 = diethylenetriamine (dien) or 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine (tpy); N = the nucleobases: adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine; the nucleosides: 2′deoxyadenosine, 2′deoxyguanosine, 2′deoxythymine, 2′deoxycytidine; the nucleotides: 2′deoxyadenosine 5′-monophosphate, 2′ deoxyguanosine 5′-monophosphate, 2′deoxythymine 5′- monophosphate, 2′deoxycytidine 5′-monophosphate) was examined as a means of forming radical cations of the constituents of nucleic acids in the gas phase. In general, sufficient quantities of the ternary complexes [M(L 3)(N)]2..