Gas Phase Biomolecules: Structural Motifs Revealed by Ionization-Loss Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy

In recent years, much effort has been devoted to the measurement and modelling of the threedimensional structure and the folding abilities of biologically-relevant molecules, including neurotransmitters [1] and building blocks of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) [2]. Previous studies have shown that one can differentiate between the conformers of the same molecule by combing quantum computations with novel laser spectroscopies, employing double resonance or hole-burning techniques, which allow monitoring of electronic and vibrational spectra. The latter were obtained using infrared (IR) sources, using the method of infrared ion dip spectroscopy (IR-IDS) [3] in limited ranges (mainly covering hydride stretch vibrations).