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Updated: Mar 8, 2026

Identification of RNA Fragments Resulting from Enzymatic Degradation using MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry
Published on: April 11, 2022
Ultrafast Electronic Deactivation Dynamics of Xanthosine Monophosphate
Katharina Röttger1,2, Rebecca Stellmacher3, Mayra C Stuhldreier4
1Institute of Physical Chemistry, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Olshausenstr. 40, 24098 Kiel, Germany. katharina.roettger@gmail.com.
Abstract:
Ultrafast energy dissipation is a crucial factor for the photostability of DNA and RNA, but even some of the key electronic deactivation pathways in monomeric nucleic acid building stones are still controversial. Here, we report on the excited-state dynamics of the rare nucleotide xanthosine monophosphate as a function of deprotonation state (XMP vs. XMP - ) and excitation wavelength ( λ pump = 278-243 nm) by femtosecond time-resolved fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy. We show that the predominating relaxation channel leads to a return of the photo-excited molecules to the electronic ground state in τ∼1 ps. The mechanism likely involves an out-of-plane deformation of the five-membered ring, different from the main electronic deactivation pathways in the canonical purine bases adenine and guanine. The results are discussed in terms of the structural and electronic differences of XMP compared to the canonical nucleotides.
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