Soft X-ray interaction with organic molecules of biological interest: the pyrimidine and halogenated pyrimidines cases

Molecular fragmentation following absorption of X-ray radiation is one of the effects of radiation damage. To investigate this process in a class of organic molecules of biological interest the inner shell excitation, ionisation, electron decay and fragmentation of the pyrimidine molecule have been fully characterised by electron and ion spectroscopies and theoretical calculations. These techniques enabled us to observe sites-elective molecular fragmentation of the N and C (1s) core excited states and to explain that it is governed by the final singly charged ion state populated by resonant Auger electron decay.