Speaker
Description
Nitrofurans have been used as antibiotics or antimicrobials in human and veterinary medicine. The underlying mechanism is ascribed to the reduction of the nitro group by nitro reductases, producing the electrophilic intermediates nitroso and hydroxylamine, which are capable of binding to DNA and other biomolecules in microorganisms. In the present study, we investigated electron attachment to 2-nitrofuran (C4H3NO3) in the electron energy range between ~0-12 eV. For generation of a high-resolution electron beam, a hemispherical electron-monochromator was used. Electron attachment to 2-nitrofuran leads to a large variety of charged fragments and radicals with NO2 - as the most abundant fragment anion. The experimental study was supported by thermochemical threshold calculations.
