Kamil Mazurkiewicz

Photoelectron spectroscopy of adiabatically bound valence anions of rare tautomers of the nucleic acid bases

Anionic states of nucleic acid bases (NABs) are involved in DNA damage by low-energy electrons and in charge transfer through DNA. Previous gas phase studies of free, unsolvated NAB parent anions probed mostly dipole-bound states, which are not present in condensed phase environments. Recently, we demonstrated that very rare tautomers of uracil (U), cytosine (C), adenine (A), and guanine (G), which are obtained from canonical tautomers through N-to-C proton transfers, support valence anionic states. Here we report the photoelectron spectrum of the final member of the NABs series: the valence state of the thymine (T) anion. Additionally, we summarized the work of all five NABs. All of the newfound anionic tautomers of the NABs may be formed via dissociative electron attachment followed by hydrogen atom reattachment to a carbon atom. Furthermore, these unusual tautomers may affect the structure and properties of DNA and RNA exposed to low-energy electrons. The new valence states observed here, unlike dipole bound states, could exist in condensed phases and may be relevant to radiobiological damage.

STABLE VALENCE ANIONS OF NUCLEIC ACID BASES AND DNA STRAND BREAKS INDUCED BY LOW ENERGY ELECTRONS

The last decade has witnessed immense advances in our understanding of the effects of ionizing radiation on biological systems. As the genetic information carrier in biological systems, DNA is the most important species which is prone to damage by high energy photons. Ionizing radiations destroy DNA indirectly by forming low energy electrons (LEEs) as secondary products of the interaction between ionizing radiation and water. An understanding of the mechanism that leads to the formation of single and double strand breaks may be important in guiding the further development of anticancer radiation therapy. In this article we demonstrate the likely involvement of stable nucleobases anions in the formation of DNA strand breaks – a concept which the radiation research community has not focused on so far. In Section refch21:sec21.1 we discuss the current status of studies related to the interaction between DNA and LEEs. The next section is devoted to the description of proton transfer induced by electron attachment to the complexes between nucleobases and various proton donors – a process leading to the strong stabilization of nucleobases anions. Then, we review our results concerning the anionic binary complexes of nucleobases with particular emphasize on the GC and AT systems. Next, the possible consequences of interactions between DNA and proteins in the context of electron attachment are briefly discussed. Further, we focus on existing proposal of single strand break formation in DNA. Ultimately, open questions as well perspectives of studies on electron induced DNA damage are discussed

The Anionic (9-Methyladenine)−(1-Methylthymine) Base Pair Solvated by Formic Acid. A Computational and Photoelectron Spectroscopy Study

The photoelectron spectrum for (1-methylthymine)-(9-methyladenine)...(formic acid) (1MT-9MA...FA) anions with the maximum at ca. 1.87 eV was recorded with 2.54 eV photons and interpreted through the quantum-chemical modeling carried out at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level. The relative free energies of the anions and their calculated vertical detachment energies suggest that only seven anionic structures contribute to the observed PES signal. We demonstrate that electron binding to the (1MT-9MA...FA) complex can trigger intermolecular proton transfer from formic acid, leading to the strong stabilization of the resulting radical anion. The SOMO distribution indicates that an excess electron may localize not only on the pyrimidine but also on the purine moiety. The biological context of DNA-environment interactions concerning the formation of single-strand breaks induced by excess electrons has been briefly discussed.

Barrier-free proton transfer induced by electron attachment to the complexes between 1‐methylcytosine and formic acid

We report the photoelectron spectra of anionic complexes between 1-methylcytosine (mC) and formic acid (FA) in 1 : 1 and 1:2 stoichiometries that have been measured with 2.54 eV photons. Each spectrum consists of a broad peak with maxima at 1.85 and 2.1 eV, respectively, confirming the generation of stable valence anions in the gas phase. The neutral and anionic complexes of mC(FA) and mC(FA)2 were also studied computationally at the B3LYP, second-order Møller–Plesset, and coupled-cluster levels of theory with the 6–31++G** and aug-cc-pVDZ basis sets. Based on the calculations, we conclude that the photoelectron spectra of mC(FA)− and are due to anions that originate from a barrier-free proton transfer (BFPT) triggered by excess electron attachment. They can be viewed as neutral radicals of hydrogenated 1-methylcytosine solvated by a deprotonated formic acid.