Gas-phase fragmentation of the Ag+-phenylalanine complex: cation-pi interactions and radical cation formation.

Collision-induced dissociation experiments on the Ag+-phenylalanine complex using several collision energies were shown to yield ten different fragment ions. Unambiguous assignment of these fragment ions were made by careful analysis of deuterium labeling experiments. The losses of H2O, CO, CO2, and AgH were commonly observed; also encountered were the losses of H2, Ag, and H. Deuterium labeling experiments and density functional calculations have been employed to probe fragmentation mechanisms that account for all experimental results.