| Abstract
| - The photostablities of two dozen polycyclic aromatichydrocarbon (PAH) cations and a fullerene,C60+, havebeen tested. The molecular radical cations have been produced byboth electron impact and laser desorption,then trapped and mass-analyzed in a Fourier transform ion cyclotronresonance mass spectrometer. ThePAH cations were subjected to visible and UV radiation (λ ≥ 185 nm)from a Xe arc lamp. Fragmentationpatterns fall into four groups: photostable, hydrogen loss only,hydrogen and carbon loss, and photodestroyed.The fragmentation patterns are discussed with respect to priorexperimental and theoretical models. Implicationsof these findings for the “PAH hypothesis” and the unidentifiedinterstellar infrared (UIR) emission bandsare discussed briefly.
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