Dr. Tomasz Wąsowicz, a GUT professor will carry out research project at the Swedish synchrotron MaxIV Laboratory | Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics at the Gdańsk University of Technology

The Swedish synchrotron MaxIV Program Advisory Committee and the MAX IV Laboratory Management have awarded Dr. Tomasz Wąsowicz, professor of the university, experimental time and free access to the research infrastructure of the FinEstBeAMS beamline for the project: Elucidating the mechanism of site-specific fragmentation of isoxazole and oxazole after C 1s, N 1s, and O 1s photoionization. It will be the only Polish project in the Fall 23 Call edition of the MaxIV.

The project is part of Tomasz Wąsowicz's investigations of the fragmentation dynamics of biological molecules. Specifically, the project aims to study site-specific fragmentation of the heterocyclic molecule isoxazole (1,2-oxazole) and oxazole (1,3-oxazole) initiated by photoionization at the C 1s, N 1s, and O 1s edges. Site-selective dissociation induced by core photoionization of biomolecules is crucial for understanding radiation damage processes and dynamics. Also, it promises far-reaching applications as "chemical scissors." In this context, inner shell electrons can provide details on specific molecular bonds because they are localized on particular molecular sites and are thus influenced by the surrounding chemical environment. Site-specificity is achieved for the same atoms in different chemical environments because their core-level binding energies are typically shifted.