Mass spectrometric characterization of 3'-imino[60]fulleryl-3'-deoxythymidine by collision-induced dissociation

The primary structure of 3'-imino[60]fulleryl-3'-deoxythymidine ions is studied using mass spectrometry both in the positive and negative modes. Interaction between the subunits is discussed using collision-induced dissociation (CID) spectra. Collisional activation with argon of the sodiated cations leads to the cleavage of the glycosidic bond and the transfer of a radical hydrogen from the deoxyribose to the thymine. The sodiated thymine is the only fragment observed for low collision energies in the positive mode. In the negative mode, two different ionization mechanisms take place, reduction and deprotonation in the presence of triethylamine. The 2.7 eV electron affinity of C60 and its huge cross section compared to the small cross section and predicted 0.44 eV electron affinity of the thymidine subunit most likely localize the radical electron on the fullerene. On the other hand, deprotonation of the 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT) is known to occur in N-3, the most acidic site of the nucleobase. Consequently, deprotonation causes the negative charge to be initially localized on the thymine. Both types of parent anions give the radical anion C60*- as fragment. The other fragments detected are the dehydrogenated 3'-imino[60]fulleryl-3'-deoxyribose anion, C60NH2-, C60N- and C60H-. Since in negative ion mass spectrometry all fragments include the [60]fullerene unit, this suggests that the fragmentation is driven by the electron affinity of the [60]fullerene, likely responsible for a charge transfer between the deprotonated thymine and the C60.