Eur. Phys. J. D (2015) 69: 280
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2015-60245-x

Regular Article

Association of amino acids embedded in helium droplets detected by mass spectrometry

Institut für Experimentalphysik, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany

^a e-mail: matthieurlalanne@hotmail.com

Received: 22 April 2015
Received in final form: 16 September 2015
Published online: 17 December 2015

Abstract

Amino acids were embedded in helium droplets. The electron impact ionization allows for detecting positively charged glycine, valine, histidine, tryptophan and their principal fragments. Monomers and polymers with up to four amino acids are reported. Heterodimers of tryptophan and valine or histidine are observed as well as heterodimers of included fragments. The ability of these associations of molecules to form complexes with water is examined.