Electronic structure of adenine and thymine base pairs studied by femtosecond electron-ion coincidence spectroscopy

J Phys Chem A. 2007 Nov 22;111(46):11743-9. doi: 10.1021/jp076800e. Epub 2007 Oct 31.

Abstract

Femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy was combined with photoelectron-photoion coincidence detection to investigate the electronic structure and dynamics of isolated adenine (A) and thymine (T) dimers and the adenine-thymine (AT) base pair. The photoelectron spectra show that pipi* and npi* states are only weakly perturbed in the hydrogen-bound dimers as compared to the monomers. For cationic base pairs with internal energies greater than 1 eV, we observed considerable cluster fragmentation into protonated monomers. This process selectively removed signals from the npi* --> n-1 ionization channel in all dimers. The photoelectron spectra are compared to time-resolved mass spectra and confirm the assignment of short-lived pipi* and npi* populations in the adenine, thymine, and mixed AT dimers.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenine / chemistry*
  • Base Pairing
  • Dimerization
  • Electrons*
  • Hydrogen Bonding
  • Light*
  • Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Molecular Structure
  • Thymine / chemistry*

Substances

  • Adenine
  • Thymine