Guanine radical reaction processes: a computational description of proton transfer in X-irradiated 9-ethylguanine single crystals.
Computational methods based on DFT procedures have been used to investigate proton-transfer processes in irradiated 9-ethylguanine crystals. Previous experimental results from X-irradiation and study of this system at 10 K found significant concentrations of two main products, R1, formed by N7-hydrogenation of the purine ring, and R2, the primary one-electron oxidation product (Jayatilaka, N.; Nelson, W. H. J. Phys. Chem. B 2007, 111, 7887). The objective of this work is to describe the processes leading to these products using computational methods that take into account molecular packing and bulk dielectric properties. The basic concept is that a proton will transfer following ionization if the net electronic energy of the system, consisting of the donor plus the acceptor plus any intervening molecules, becomes lower. Three approaches were used to investigate this concept, two based on energies computed for single molecules and one based on energies computed for two-molecule clusters arranged as in the crystals. The results are that the methods successfully predict the observed behavior, that it is energetically favorable on one-electron reduction for proton H1 to transfer from a neutral molecule to N7 of the neighbor, forming the N7-hydrogenated product, and that there is virtually no energy advantage for a proton to transfer upon one-electron oxidation. The results also support the proposal that the C8 H-addition radical, found only upon irradiation at 300 K, was the product of intramolecular transfer of the H7 proton to C8 in a process apparently requiring sufficient thermal energy for activation. Finally, the computations predict hyperfine couplings and tensors in very good agreement with those from experiment, thereby providing additional evidence for the success of the computations in describing the experimental observations.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 4106, Atlanta, Georgia 30302-4106, USA.
Nayana
N
Jayatilaka
William H
WH
Nelson
D006147:Guanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D011522:Protons; D014965:X-Rays
D011522:Protons; D006147:Guanine; C014542:9-ethylguanine