Role of methylation in electron scattering on X(CH₃)₄ (X= C, Si, Ge) molecules

Abstract

To investigate how replacement of H atom with methyl group (CH3) – in tetrahedral compounds of carbon, silicon and germanium – affects electron scattering process, total cross sections (TCS) for electron scattering from C(CH3)4, Si(CH3)4 and Ge(CH3)4 molecules have been compared with data for CH4, SiH4 and GeH4 molecules. All examined data have been obtained with the same experimental setup. The shape of all discussed TCS energy dependences is very similar and is characterized by a dominant maximum peaked below 10 eV. For methylated compounds a gentle structure is also visible on high energy slope of main enhancement, between 10 – 20 eV. A simple formula for TCS evaluation for partially methylated carbon, silicon and germanium compounds is also proposed.

Low-energy elastic electron scattering cross sections of acrylic acid and its methylated derivatives

“…In recent works, there is a large interest in studying the influence of methylation effects in the integral (positions and widths of resonances) and differential (oscillatory patterns) cross sections of molecules of industrial and biological interest [17][18][19][20][21]. Methylation effects have a significant role in gene expression through epigenetic changes in the DNA molecule [22][23][24][25], being present in many fundamental processes of our bodies, such as embrionary development, silencing of repetitive elements, pluripotency and in some pathological conditions, such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and Rett's syndrome.…”