Adenine and 2-aminopurine: paradigms of modern theoretical photochemistry.

ABSTRACT: Distinct photophysical behavior of nucleobase adenine and its constitutional isomer, 2-aminopurine, has been studied by using quantum chemical methods, in particular an accurate ab initio multiconfigurational second-order perturbation theory. After light irradiation, the efficient, ultrafast energy dissipation observed for nonfluorescent 9H-adenine is explained here by the nonradiative internal conversion process taking place along a barrierless reaction path from the initially populated 1(pipi* La) excited state toward a low-lying conical intersection (CI) connected with the ground state. In contrast, the strong fluorescence recorded for 2-aminopurine at 4.0 eV with large decay lifetime is interpreted by the presence of a minimum in the 1(pipi* La) hypersurface lying below the lowest CI a

SUBMITTER: Serrano-Andres L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1482641 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature