Rate Constants of Hydrated Electron Reactions with Amino Acids

Most of the radiation chemistry of compounds of biological interest so far has been in terms of reactions with H and OH radicals only. It appeared, therefore, worth while to study the reactions between the hydrated electron and amino acids in order to evaluate the possible importance for protein radiation chemistry. In this paper the results of measurements of the rate constants of amino acids are presented. In a second paper, results of measurements on peptides and proteins will be reported and discussed.