Alanine Formation in Aqueous Solution of Ammonium Acrylate Induced by UV Picosecond LaserPulses

Formation of amino acids (α- and β-alanine) and oligomers containing NH2-groups, have been discovered under the irradiation of aqueous solution of ammonium acrylate by picosecond laser pulses with intensity up to 1 GW/cm2, λ = 266 nm.The composition of photoproducts was shown to depend on intensity of laser pulses. The laser intensity dependence of the β-alanine quantum yield was of a nonlinear character. The β-alanine formation occurred under the excitation of highly singlet electronic states of ammonium acrylate molecule by two quanta of UV or one quantum of VUV light. The unimolecular mechanism of amino acid formation in such a reaction was suggested.