title: Spectroscopic and theoretical study of the electronic structure of curcumin and related fragment molecules.
abstract: The low volatility and thermal instability made the photoelectron (PE), electron transmission (ET), and dissociative electron attachment (DEA) spectroscopy measurements on curcumin (a potent chemopreventive agent) unsuccessful. The filled and empty electronic structure of curcumin was therefore investigated by exploiting the PES, ETS, and DEAS results for representative fragment molecules and suitable quantum-mechanical calculations. On this basis, a reliable pattern of the vertical ionization energies and electron attachment energies of curcumin was proposed. The pi frontier molecular orbitals (MOs) are characterized by sizable interaction between the two phenol rings transmitted through the dicarbonyl chain and associated with a remarkably low ionization energy and a negative electron attachment energy (i.e., a largely positive electron affinity), diagnostic of a stable anion state not observable in ETS. The lowest energy electronic transitions of half-curcumin and curcumin and their color change by alkalization were interpreted with time-dependent density functional theory (DFT) calculations. For curcumin, it is shown that loss of a phenolic proton occurs in alkaline ethanolic solution.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste, Italy. galasso@ univ.trieste.it
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Galasso
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kovac
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Modelli
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Ottaviani
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pichierri
mesh_terms: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000737:chemistry; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D003474:Curcumin / Q000737:chemistry*; D011789:Quantum Theory; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D013343:Styrenes / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D013343:Styrenes; C052933:methyl-3-methoxy-4-hydroxystyryl ketone; D003474:Curcumin