Electronic splitting in the excited states of DNA base homodimers and -trimers: an evaluation of short-range and Coulombic interactions

The nature of the electronic interactions of the stacked nucleic-acid bases (adenine, thymine, cytosine, and uracil) in homodimer and -trimer complexes in their electronically excited states was investigated and analysed in terms of orbital-overlap and Coulombic interactions. The mutual orientations of the adjacent bases were selected so as to correspond to the A- and B-DNA conformations. The extent of the electronic interaction is larger for the former conformation. It is shown that the orbital-overlap interactions at the distance of two bases relevant to the DNA structure do not contribute significantly to the overall electronic coupling. Only the states which are caused by the (pi --> pi*) transitions manifest an electronic coupling.     

On the electronically excited states of uracil

Vertical excitation energies in uracil in the gas phase and in water solution are investigated by the equation-of-motion coupled-cluster and multireference configuration interaction methods. Basis set effects are found to be important for converged results. The analysis of electronic wave functions reveals that the lowest singlet states are predominantly of a singly excited character and are therefore well described by single-reference equation-of-motion methods augmented by a perturbative triples correction to account for dynamical correlation.Our best estimates for the vertical excitation energies for the lowest singlet n --> pi* and pi --> pi* are 5.0 +/- 0.1 eV and 5.3 +/- 0.1 eV, respectively. The solvent effects for these states are estimated to be +0.5 eV and +/- 0.1 eV, respectively. We attribute the difference between the computed vertical excitations and the maximum of the experimental absorption to strong vibronic interaction between the lowest A" and A' states leading to intensity borrowing by the forbidden transition.     

The acidity of uracil and uracil analogs in the gas phase: four surprisingly acidic sites and biological implications

The gas phase acidities of a series of uracil derivatives (1-methyluracil, 3-methyluracil, 6-methyluracil, 5,6-dimethyluracil, and 1,3-dimethyluracil) have been bracketed to provide an understanding of the intrinsic reactivity of uracil. The experiments indicate that in the gas phase, uracil has four sites more acidic than water. Among the uracil analogs, the N1-H sites have deltaH(acid) values of 331-333 kcal mol(-1); the acidity of the N3 sites fall between 347-352 kcal mol(-1). The vinylic C6 in 1-methyluracil and 3-methyluracil brackets to 363 kcal mol(-1), and 369 kcal mol(-1) in 1,3-dimethyluracil; the C5 of 1,3-dimethyluracil brackets to 384 kcal mol(-1). Calculations conducted at B3LYP/6-31+G* are in agreement with the experimental values. The bracketing of several of these sites involved utilization of an FTMS protocol to measure the less acidic site in a molecule that has more than one acidic site, establishing the generality of this method. In molecules with multiple acidic sites, only the two most acidic sites were bracketable, which is attributable to a kinetic effect. The measured acidities are in direct contrast to in solution, where the two most acidic sites of uracil (N1 and N3) are indifferentiable. The vinylic C6 site is also particularly acidic, compared to acrolein and pyridine. The biological implications of these results, particularly with respect to enzymes for which uracil is a substrate, are discussed.     

Nonradiative deactivation mechanisms of uracil, thymine, and 5-fluorouracil: a comparative ab initio study

The mechanisms of the ultrafast nonradiative deactivation of uracil and its substituted derivatives thymine (5-methyluracil) and 5-fluorouracil after absorption of UV light are explored and compared by means of ab initio multistate (MS) CASPT2 calculations. The MS-CASPT2 method is applied for the calculation of potential energy profiles, especially for the geometry optimization in the electronically excited state, with the aim of an accurate prediction of deactivation pathways. The resulting energy curves of each molecule exhibit that the conical intersection between the (1)ππ* and ground states is accessible via small energy barriers from the minimum in the (1)ππ* state as well as from that in the (1)nπ* state. The barrier of 5-fluorouracil in the (1)ππ* state is calculated to be definitely higher than those of uracil and thymine, which is consistent with experiments and suggests that the elongation of the excited-state lifetime of uracil by fluorine substitution is significantly contributed from intrinsic electronic effect of the molecule. However, no evidence of the experimentally observed longer excited-state lifetime of thymine than uracil is found in the presently calculated MS-CASPT2 potential energy curves in the (1)ππ* and (1)nπ* states, implying nonnegligible contribution of other factors such as solvation effect and substituent mass to the photoinduced dynamics of uracil derivatives.     

Synthesis of 2-(1,5,9-Triazabicyclo[7.3.1]tridec-10-en-5-yl)-4-methylthiobutanoic Acid Derivatives

Reactions of 1,3-bis(3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl)uracil, 1,3-bis(3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl)-6-methyluracil, 1,3-bis(3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl)-5-hydroxy-6-methyluracil, and 1,3-bis(3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl)-5-fluorouracil with 2-amino-4-methylthiobutanoic acid (methionine) were studied for the first time.     

Near-ultraviolet photodissociation of thiophenol

H(D) Rydberg atom photofragment translational spectroscopy has been used to investigate the dynamics of H(D) atom loss C6H5SH(C6H5SD) following excitation at many wavelengths lambda phot in the range of 225-290 nm. The C6H5S cofragments are formed in both their ground (X(2)B1) and first excited ((2)B2) electronic states, in a distribution of vibrational levels that spreads and shifts to higher internal energies as lambda(phot) is reduced. Excitation at lambda(phot) > 275 nm populates levels of the first (1)pi pi* state, which decay by tunnelling to the dissociative (1)pi sigma* state potential energy surface (PES). S-H torsional motion is identified as a coupling mode facilitating population transfer at the conical intersection (CI) between the diabatic (1)pi pi* and (1)pi sigma* PESs. At shorter lambda(phot), the (1)pi sigma* state is deduced to be populated either directly or by efficient vibronic coupling from higher (1)pipi* states. Flux evolving on the (1)pi sigma* PES samples a second CI, at longer R(S-H), between the diabatic (1)pi sigma* and ground ((1)pi pi) PESs, where the electronic branching between ground and excited state C6H5S fragments is determined. The C6H5S(X(2)B1) and C6H5S((2)B2) products are deduced to be formed in levels with, respectively, a' and a' vibrational symmetry-behavior that reflects both Franck-Condon effects (both in the initial photoexcitation step and in the subsequent in-plane forces acting during dissociation) and the effects of the out-of-plane coupling mode(s), nu11 and nu16a, at the (1)pi sigma*/(1)pi pi CI. The vibrational state assignments enabled by the high-energy resolution of the present data allow new and improved estimations of the bond dissociation energies, D0(C6H5S-H) < or = 28,030 +/- 100 cm(-1) and D0(C6H5S-D) < or = 28,610 +/- 100 cm(-1), and of the energy separation between the X(2)B1 and (2)B2 states of the C6H5S radical, T(00) = 2800 +/- 40 cm(-1). Similarities, and differences, between the measured energy disposals accompanying UV photoinduced X-H (X = S, O) bond fission in thiophenol and phenol are discussed.     

Negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy of acridine molecular anion and its monohydrate

Negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy was employed to investigate the electronic structure of the acridine molecular anion and its monohydrated anion in the gas phase. Their adiabatic electron affinities were measured to be 0.896+/-0.010 and 1.18+/-0.05 eV, and the low-lying electronic excited states in both neutral acridine and in its monohydrate were revealed. The photoelectron spectra clearly exhibit the presence of low-lying singlet and triplet states having a (pi,pi*) configuration in an uncomplexed acridine molecule. Comparison of the photoelectron spectrum of acridine with that of anthracene shows that photodetachment processes into the excited states of (n,pi*) configuration have little intensity, implying a relatively large intramolecular structural relaxation in the (n,pi*) states.     

Singlet excited-state dynamics of 5-fluorocytosine and Cytosine: an experimental and computational study

The photophysics of singlet excited 5-fluorocytosine (5FC) was studied in steady-state and time-resolved experiments and theoretically by quantum chemical calculations. Femtosecond transient absorption measurements show that replacement of the C5 hydrogen of cytosine by fluorine increases the excited-state lifetime by 2 orders of magnitude from 720 fs to 73 +/- 4 ps. Experimental evidence indicates that emission in both compounds originates from a single tautomeric form. The lifetime of 5FC is the same within experimental uncertainty in the solvents ethanol and dimethyl sulfoxide. The insensitivity of the S(1) lifetime to the protic nature of the solvent suggests that proton transfer is not the principal quenching mechanism for the excited state. Excited-state calculations were carried out for the amino-keto tautomer of 5FC, the dominant species in polar environments, in order to understand its longer excited-state lifetime. CASSCF and CAS-PT2 calculations of the excited states show that the minimum energy path connecting the minimum of the (1)pi,pi state with the conical intersection responsible for internal conversion has essentially the same energetics for cytosine and 5FC, suggesting that both bases decay nonradiatively by the same mechanism. The dramatic difference in lifetimes may be due to subtle changes along the decay coordinate. A possible reason may be differences in the intramolecular vibrational redistribution rate from the Franck-Condon active, in-plane modes to the out-of-plane modes that must be activated to reach the conical intersection region.     

Structural changes accompanying excited-state electron transfer in meta- and para-dialkylaminopyridines

The electronic structure of the lowest excited singlet states and molecular geometries of a series of dialkylaminopyridines (DAAPs) representing electron donor–acceptor systems were studied by photostationary and time-resolved UV–vis spectroscopic methods and quantum chemical calculations. The comparative studies allow us to rationalize dual luminescence of 4-DAAPs in terms of the TICT state model—the analysis of the electronic transition dipole moments indicates a nearly orthogonal conformation of the fluorescent ICT states. Introduction of the amino group at meta position as in 3-diisopropylaminopyridine completely changes photophysics of these pyridine derivatives: (i) the Franck-Condon excited state initially reached upon excitation and the solvent equilibrated fluorescent state are most probably of the same nature (both excited states do not correspond to a full separation of charges) and (ii) the electronic structure and geometry of the fluorescent CT states of m-DIAP are solvent dependent.     

Rotamerism and electronic spectra of aza-derivatives of stilbene and diphenylbutadiene. A combined experimental and theoretical study

The experimental results on the rotameric equilibrium and electronic spectra of aza-derivatives of trans-stilbene and 1,4-diphenylbutadiene, have been rationalized by a theoretical study which combines simple ab initio calculations of molecular energies for the ground state with a theoretical analysis of the splitting of the conjugation band developed at CS INDO CI level. All results indicate that the stable conformer of each ortho aza-derivative is that corresponding to A species. As suggested by the 1H-NMR experiments, the ab initio geometry of ZE-2-pyridylphenylbutadiene is consistent with the presence of the N.H intramolecular hydrogen bond. As regards the Franck-Condon excited states of aza-derivatives, our theoretical results show that the first singlet excited state has (piH, piL*) character in all compounds except for E-4,4'-dipyridylethene, where S1 has (n, pi*) character in non-polar solvent. In this last compound, the theoretical study of solvatochromism indicates a crossing between the 1(n, piL*) and 1(piH, piL*) states which occurs in solvents of high polarity. The inclusion of the most important doubly- and triply-excited configurations in the CI calculations shows that the 1A(g)- excited state is above the spectral region analyzed.     

Synthesis of Macrocyclic Pyrimidine Derivatives

A reaction was studied of previously unknown 1,3-bis(2-hydroxy-3-chloropropyl)uracil, 1,3-bis(2- hydroxy-3-chloropropyl)-6-methyluracil, and 1,3-bis(2-hydroxy-3-chloropropyl)-5-fluorouracil with 1,3-bis[3-(3-methyl-2H-5-pyrazolon-1-yl)-2-hydroxypropyl]-6-methyluracil.     

Multiple Decay Mechanisms and 2D‐UV Spectroscopic Fingerprints of Singlet Excited Solvated Adenine‐Uracil Monophosphate

The decay channels of singlet excited adenine uracil monophosphate (ApU) in water are studied with CASPT2//CASSCF:MM potential energy calculations and simulation of the 2D‐UV spectroscopic fingerprints with the aim of elucidating the role of the different electronic states of the stacked conformer in the excited state dynamics. The adenine ¹L_a state can decay without a barrier to a conical intersection with the ground state. In contrast, the adenine ¹L_b and uracil S(U) states have minima that are separated from the intersections by sizeable barriers. Depending on the backbone conformation, the CT state can undergo inter‐base hydrogen transfer and decay to the ground state through a conical intersection, or it can yield a long‐lived minimum stabilized by a hydrogen bond between the two ribose rings. This suggests that the ¹L_b, S(U) and CT states of the stacked conformer may all contribute to the experimental lifetimes of 18 and 240 ps. We have also simulated the time evolution of the 2D‐UV spectra and provide the specific fingerprint of each species in a recommended probe window between 25 000 and 38 000 cm^?1 in which decongested, clearly distinguishable spectra can be obtained. This is expected to allow the mechanistic scenarios to be discerned in the near future with the help of the corresponding experiments. Our results reveal the complexity of the photophysics of the relatively small ApU system, and the potential of 2D‐UV spectroscopy to disentangle the photophysics of multichromophoric systems.     

Photophysics of diimine platinum(II) bis-acetylide complexes

A comprehensive photophysical investigation has been carried out on a series of eight complexes of the type (diimine)Pt(-C=C-Ar)(2), where diimine is a series of 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) ligands and -C=C-Ar is a series of substituted aryl acetylide ligands. In one series of complexes, the energy of the Pt --> bpy metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) excited state is varied by changing the substituents on the 4,4'- and/or the 5,5'-positions of the bpy ligand. In a second series of complexes the electronic demand of the aryl acetylide ligand is varied by changing the para substituent (X) on the aryl ring (X = -CF(3), -CH(3), -OCH(3), and -N(CH(3))(2)). The effect of variation of the substituents on the excited states of the complexes has been assessed by examining their UV-visible absorption, variable-temperature photoluminescence, transient absorption, and time-resolved infrared spectroscopy. In addition, the nonradiative decay rates of the series of complexes are subjected to a quantitative energy gap law analysis. The results of this study reveal that in most cases the photophysics of the complexes is dominated by the energetically low lying Pt --> bpy (3)MLCT state. Some of the complexes also feature a low-lying intraligand (IL) (3)pi,pi excited state that is derived from transitions between pi- and pi-type orbitals localized largely on the aryl acetylide ligands. The involvement of the IL (3)pi,pi state in the photophysics of some of the complexes is signaled by unusual features in the transient absorption, time-resolved infrared, and photoluminescence spectra and in the excited-state decay kinetics. The time-resolved infrared difference spectroscopy indicates that Pt --> bpy MLCT excitation induces a +25 to + 35 cm(-)(1) shift in the frequency of the C=C stretching band. This is the first study to report the effect of MLCT excitation on the vibrational frequency of an acetylide ligand.     

Photosensitized generation of singlet oxygen

This work gives an overview of what is currently known about the mechanisms of the photosensitized production of singlet oxygen. Quenching of pi pi* excited triplet states by O2 proceeds via internal conversion of excited encounter complexes and exciplexes of sensitizer and O2. Both deactivation channels lead with different efficiencies to singlet oxygen generation. The balance between the deactivation channels depends on the triplet-state energy and oxidation potential of the sensitizer, and on the solvent polarity. A model has been developed that reproduces rate constants and efficiencies of the competing processes quantitatively. Sensitization by excited singlet states is much more complex and hence only qualitative rules could be elaborated, despite serious efforts of many groups. However, the most important deactivation paths of fluorescence quenching by O2 are again directed by excess energies and charge-transfer interactions similar to triplet-state quenching by O2. Finally, two recent developments in photosensitization of singlet oxygen are reviewed: Two-photon sensitizers with particular application potential for photodynamic therapy and fluorescence imaging of biological samples and singlet oxygen sensitization by nanocrystalline porous silicon, a material with very different photophysics compared to molecular sensitizers.     

The structure of 5-cyanoindole in the ground and the lowest electronically excited singlet states, deduced from rotationally resolved electronic spectroscopy and ab initio theory

The structure and electronic properties of the electronic ground and the lowest excited singlet states of 5-cyanoindole (5CI) were determined using rotationally resolved spectroscopy of the vibrationless electronic origin of 5CI. In contrast to most other indole derivatives, the lowest excited state of 5CI is determined to be of L(a) character. The conventional approximate coupled cluster singles and doubles model (CC2) fails to describe the geometry of the excited state correctly. Nevertheless, scaling the spin components of equal and opposite spins within the CC2 model as proposed by Hellweg et al. (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2008, 10, 1159) resulted in very good geometry parameters for the excited state.     

Quantum chemical investigation of the electronic spectra of the keto, enol, and keto-imine tautomers of cytosine

The low-lying excited singlet states of the keto, enol, and keto-imine tautomers of cytosine have been investigated employing a combined density functional/multireference configuration interaction (DFT/MRCI) method. Unconstrained geometry optimizations have yielded out-of-plain distorted structures of the pi --> pi and n --> pi excited states of all cytosine forms. For the keto tautomer, the DFT/MRCI adiabatic excitation energy of the pi --> pi state (4.06 eV including zero-point vibrational energy corrections) supports the resonant two-photon ionization (R2PI) spectrum (Nir et al. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2002, 5, 4780). On its S1 potential energy surface, a conical intersection between the 1pipi state and the electronic ground state has been identified. The barrier height of the reaction along a constrained minimum energy path amounts to merely 0.2 eV above the origin and explains the break-off of the R2PI spectrum. The 1pipi minimum of the enol tautomer is found at considerably higher excitation energies (4.50 eV). Because of significant geometry shifts with respect to the ground state, long vibrational progressions are expected, in accord with experimental observations. For the keto-imine tautomer, a crossing of the 1pipi potential energy surface with the ground-state surface has been found, too. Its n --> pi minimum (3.27 eV) is located well below the conical intersection between the pi --> pi and S0 states, but it will be difficult to observe because of its small transition moment. The identified conical intersections of the pi --> pi excited states of the keto cytosine tautomers are made responsible for the ultrafast decay to the electronic ground states and thus may explain their subpicoseconds lifetimes.     

Comparison of Py*+/dU*- charge transfer state dynamics in 5-(1-pyrenyl)-2'-deoxyuridine nucleoside conjugates with amido-, ethylenyl-, and ethynyl linkers

Femtosecond, picosecond, and nanosecond transient absorbance (TA) and picosecond emission kinetics results are presented for three 5-(1-pyrenyl)-2'-deoxyuridine nucleosides each with a different two-atom linker joining pyrenyl C-1 to uracil C-5. The linkers are respectively -NHCO-, -(CH(2))(2)-, and -C[triple bond]C- for PAdU, PEdU, and PYdU. For all three nucleoside conjugates, most conformers undergo intramolecular charge transfer (CT) from their pyrenyl (1)(pi,pi) excited states to form Py(*+)/dU(*-) CT products in ultrashort times: 相似文献