Clara Casado

Adsorption of Adenine and Thymine on Zeolites: FT-IR and EPR Spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffractometry and SEM Studies

The interactions of adenine and thymine with and adsorption on zeolites were studied using different techniques. There were two main findings. First, as shown by X-ray diffractometry, thymine increased the decomposition of the zeolites (Y, ZSM-5) while adenine prevented it. Second, zeolite Y adsorbed almost the same amount of adenine and thymine, thus both nucleic acid bases could be protected from hydrolysis and UV radiation and could be available for molecular evolution. The X-ray diffractometry and SEM showed that artificial seawater almost dissolved zeolite A. The adsorption of adenine on ZSM-5 zeolite was higher than that of thymine (Student-Newman-Keuls test-SNK pu2009<u20090.05). Adenine was also more greatly adsorbed on ZSM-5 zeolite, when compared to other zeolites (SNK pu2009<u20090.05). However the adsorption of thymine on different zeolites was not statistically different (SNK pu2009>u20090.05). The adsorption of adenine and thymine on zeolites did not depend on pore size or Si/Al ratio and it was not explained only by electrostatic forces; rather van der Waals interactions should also be considered.