Is UV-Induced Electron-Driven Proton Transfer Active in a Chemically Modified A•T DNA Base Pair?

Transient electronic and vibrational absorption spectroscopies have been used to investigate whether UV-induced electron-driven proton transfer (EDPT) mechanisms are active in a chemically modified adenine-thymine (A•T) DNA base pair. To enhance the fraction of biologically relevant Watson-Crick (WC) hydrogen-bonding motifs, and eliminate undesired Hoogsteen structures, a chemically modified derivative of A was synthesized, 8-(t-butyl)-9-ethyl-adenine (8tBA). Equimolar solutions of 8tBA and silyl-protected T nucleosides in chloroform yield a mixture of WC pairs, reverse WC pairs and residual monomers. Unlike previous transient absorption studies of WC guanine-cytosine (G•C) pairs, no clear spectroscopic or kinetic evidence was identified for the participation of EDPT in the excited state relaxation dynamics of 8tBA•T pairs, although ultrafast (sub-100 fs) EDPT cannot be discounted. Monomer-like dynamics are proposed to dominate in 8tBA•T.