Two-step picosecond UV excitation of polynucleotides and energy transfer

We studied the dependence of the efficiency of two-step photoreactions in several polynucleotides: poly-U, C_spd-phage DNA and TMV RNA, on the chain length and spatial structure of the excited biopolymer under high-intensity picosecond UV irradiation (λ = 266nm, I = 10¹¹ ?10¹⁴ W/m², τ_p = 23 ps). It has been found that the effective energy transfer distance Λ in single-stranded polynucleotides is ≈ 1 or 2 nucleotides. In double-stranded nucleic acids Λ < 170. The lifetime τ₁ of the excited electronic state S₁ and the absorption cross section σ₂ from the level S₁ have been estimated for nucleotide pU (τ > 6.6 ps, σ₂ <1.7 × 10^?16 cm²).