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The intermolecular binding energies [D.sub.e] of the ten doubly hydrogen bonded [uracil.sub.2] isomers are investigated by the correlated resolution of identity MP2 (RMIP2) method. All structures are optimized at the RIMP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level.

NH···π hydrogen bonds occur frequently between the amino acid side groups in proteins and peptides. Data-mining studies of protein crystals find that ∼80% of the T-shaped histidine···aromatic contacts are CH···π, and only ∼20% are NH···π interactions. We investigated the infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) spectra of the supersonic-jet-cooled imidazole·benzene (Im·Bz) complex as a model for the NH···π interaction between histidine and phenylalanine. Ground- and excited-state dispersion-corrected density functional calculations and correlated methods (SCS-MP2 and SCS-CC2) predict that Im·Bz has a Cs-symmetric T-shaped minimum-energy structure with an NH···π hydrogen bond to the Bz ring; the NH bond is tilted 12° away from the Bz C6 axis. IR depletion spectra support the T-shaped geometry: The NH stretch vibrational fundamental is red shifted by -73 cm(-1) relative to that of bare imidazole at 3518 cm(-1), indicating a moderately strong NH···π interaction. While the S0(A1g) → S1(B2u) origin of benzene at 38 086 cm(–1) is forbidden in the gas phase, Im·Bz exhibits a moderately intense S0 → S1 origin, which appears via the D(6h) → Cs symmetry lowering of Bz by its interaction with imidazole. The NH···π ground-state hydrogen bond is strong, De=22.7 kJ/mol (1899 cm–1). The combination of gas-phase UV and IR spectra confirms the theoretical predictions that the optimum Im·Bz geometry is T shaped and NH···π hydrogen bonded. We find no experimental evidence for a CH···π hydrogen-bonded ground-state isomer of Im·Bz. The optimum NH···π geometry of the Im·Bz complex is very different from the majority of the histidine·aromatic contact geometries found in protein database analyses, implying that the CH···π contacts observed in these searches do not arise from favorable binding interactions but merely from protein side-chain folding and crystal-packing constraints. The UV and IR spectra of the imidazole·(benzene)2 cluster are observed via fragmentation into the Im·Bz+ mass channel. The spectra of Im·Bz and Im·Bz2 are cleanly separable by IR hole burning. The UV spectrum of Im·Bz2 exhibits two 000 bands corresponding to the S0 → S1 excitations of the two inequivalent benzenes, which are symmetrically shifted by -86/+88 cm(-1) relative to the 000 band of benzene

The S0 → S1 vibronic spectrum and S1 state nonradiative relaxation of jet-cooled keto-amino 5-fluorocytosine (5FCyt) are investigated by two-color resonant two-photon ionization spectroscopy at 0.3 and 0.05 cm(–1) resolution. The 0(0)(0) rotational band contour is polarized in-plane, implying that the electronic transition is (1)ππ*. The electronic transition dipole moment orientation and the changes of rotational constants agree closely with the SCS-CC2 calculated values for the (1)ππ* (S1) transition of 5FCyt. The spectral region from 0 to 300 cm(–1) is dominated by overtone and combination bands of the out-of-plane ν1′ (boat), ν2′ (butterfly), and ν3′ (HN–C6H twist) vibrations, implying that the pyrimidinone frame is distorted out-of-plane by the (1)ππ* excitation, in agreement with SCS-CC2 calculations. The number of vibronic bands rises strongly around +350 cm(–1); this is attributed to the (1)ππ* state barrier to planarity that corresponds to the central maximum of the double-minimum out-of-plane vibrational potentials along the ν1′, ν2′, and ν3′ coordinates, which gives rise to a high density of vibronic excitations. At +1200 cm(–1), rapid nonradiative relaxation (k(nr) ≥ 10(12) s(–1)) sets in, which we interpret as the height of the (1)ππ* state barrier in front of the lowest S1/S0 conical intersection. This barrier in 5FCyt is 3 times higher than that in cytosine. The lifetimes of the ν′ = 0, 2ν1′, 2ν2′, 2ν1′ + 2ν2′, 4ν2′, and 2ν1′ + 4ν2′ levels are determined from Lorentzian widths fitted to the rotational band contours and are τ ≥ 75 ps for ν′ = 0, decreasing to τ ≥ 55 ps at the 2ν1′ + 4ν2′ level at +234 cm(–1). These gas-phase lifetimes are twice those of S1 state cytosine and 10–100 times those of the other canonical nucleobases in the gas phase. On the other hand, the 5FCyt gas-phase lifetime is close to the 73 ps lifetime in room-temperature solvents. This lack of dependence on temperature and on the surrounding medium implies that the 5FCyt nonradiative relaxation from its S1 ((1)ππ*) state is essentially controlled by the same ~1200 cm(–1) barrier and conical intersection both in the gas phase and in solution.

While keto-amino cytosine is the dominant species in aqueous solution, spectroscopic studies in molecular beams and in noble gas matrices show that other cytosine tautomers prevail in apolar environments. Each of these offers two or three H-bonding sites (Watson-Crick, wobble, sugar-edge). The mass- and isomer-specific S1 ← S0 vibronic spectra of cytosine·2-pyridone (Cyt·2PY) and 1-methylcytosine·2PY are measured using UV laser resonant two-photon ionization (R2PI), UV/UV depletion, and IR depletion spectroscopy. The UV spectra of the Watson-Crick and sugar-edge isomers of Cyt·2PY are separated using UV/UV spectral hole-burning. Five different isomers of Cyt·2PY are observed in a supersonic beam. We show that the Watson-Crick and sugar-edge dimers of keto-amino cytosine with 2PY are the most abundant in the beam, although keto-amino-cytosine is only the third most abundant tautomer in the gas phase. We identify the different isomers by combining three different diagnostic tools: (1) methylation of the cytosine N1-H group prevents formation of both the sugar-edge and wobble isomers and gives the Watson-Crick isomer exclusively. (2) The calculated ground state binding and dissociation energies, relative gas-phase abundances, excitation and the ionization energies are in agreement with the assignment of the dominant Cyt·2PY isomers to the Watson-Crick and sugar-edge complexes of keto-amino cytosine. (3) The comparison of calculated ground state vibrational frequencies to the experimental IR spectra in the carbonyl stretch and NH/OH/CH stretch ranges strengthen this identification.

2-Aminopurine (2AP) is an adenine analogue with a high fluorescence quantum yield in water solution, which renders it a useful real-time probe of DNA structure. We report the ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) spectra of size-selected and jet-cooled 9H-2AP·(H2O)n clusters with n = 2 and 3. Mass- and species-specific UV/UV holeburning spectroscopy allows to separate the UV spectra of four cluster isomers in the 31,200–33,000 cm(–1) spectral region with electronic band origins at 31339, 31450, 31891, and 32163 cm(–1). Using IR/UV depletion spectroscopy in combination with B3LYP calculated harmonic vibrational frequencies, the H-bonding topologies of two isomers of the n = 2 and of two isomers of the n = 3 cluster are identified. One n = 2 isomer (denoted 2A) forms a water dimer chain between the N9H and N3 atoms at the sugar-edge site, the other isomer (denoted 2D) binds one H2O at the sugar-edge site and the other at the trans-amino site between the N1 atom and the NH2 group. For 2-aminopurine·(H2O)3, one isomer (denoted 3A) forms an H-bonded water wire at the sugar-edge site, while isomer 3B accommodates two H2O molecules at the sugar-edge and one at the trans-amino site. The approximate second-order coupled cluster (CC2) method predicts the adiabatic S1 ← S0 transitions of 9H-2-aminopurine and six water cluster isomers with n = 1–3 in very good agreement with the experimental 0(0)(0) frequencies, with differences of <0.6%. The stabilization of the S1(ππ*) state of 2-aminopurine by water clusters is highly regiospecific: Isomers with one or two H2O molecules H-bonded in the trans-amino position induce large spectra red shifts, corresponding to 1ππ* state stabilization of 10–12 kJ/mol, while water-wire cluster solvation at the sugar-edge leads to much smaller stabilization. The evolution of the IR spectra of the water-wire clusters with n = 1–3 that are H-bonded to the sugar-edge site is discussed. Qualitatively different regions (denoted I to IV) can be attributed to the different free and H-bonded OH, NH, NH2 and OH···OH water-wire stretch vibrations.

We have measured the mass- and tautomer-specific S0 → S1 vibronic spectra and S1 state lifetimes of the keto–amino tautomer of cytosine cooled in supersonic jets, using two-color resonant two-photon ionization (R2PI) spectroscopy at 0.05 cm(–1) resolution. The rotational contours of the 0(0)(0) band and nine vibronic bands up to +437 cm(–1) are polarized in the pyrimidinone plane, proving that the electronic excitation is to a 1ππ* state. All vibronic excitations up to +437 cm(–1) are overtone and combination bands of the low-frequency out-of-plane ν1′ (butterfly), ν2′ (boat), and ν3′ (H–N–C6–H twist) vibrations. UV vibronic spectrum simulations based on approximate second-order coupled-cluster (CC2) calculations of the ground and 1ππ* states are in good agreement with the experimental R2PI spectrum, but only if the calculated ν1′ and ν2′ frequencies are reduced by a factor of 4 and anharmonicity is included. Together with the high intensity of the ν1′ and ν2′ overtone vibronic excitations, this implies that the 1ππ* potential energy surface is much softer and much more anharmonic in the out-of-plane directions than predicted by the CC2 method. The 1ππ* state lifetime is determined from the Lorentzian line broadening necessary to reproduce the rotational band contours: at the 0(0)(0) band it is τ = 44 ps, remains at τ = 35–45 ps up to +205 cm(–1), and decreases to 25–30 ps up to +437 cm(–1). These lifetimes are 20–40 times longer than the 0.5–1.5 ps lifetimes previously measured with femtosecond pump–probe techniques at higher vibrational energies (1500–3800 cm(–1)). Thus, the nonradiative relaxation rate of keto–amino cytosine close to the 1ππ* state minimum is k(nr) 2.5 × 10(10) s(–1), much smaller than at higher energies. An additional nonradiative decay channel opens at +500 cm(–1) excess energy. Since high overtone bands of ν1′ and ν2′ are observed in the R2PI spectrum but only a single weak 2ν3′ band, we propose that ν3′ is a promoting mode for nonradiative decay, consistent with the observation that the ν3′ normal-mode eigenvector points toward the “C6-puckered” conical intersection geometry.

We investigate the UV vibronic spectrum and excited-state nonradiative processes of jet-cooled 5-methylcytosine (5MCyt) using two-color resonant two-photon ionization spectroscopy at 0.3 and 0.05 cm(–1) resolution. In contrast to cytosine, which shows only five bands above its electronic origin, the lowest electronic transition of 5MCyt exhibits about 25 low-frequency vibronic bands that extend to 0(0)(0) + 450 cm(–1), allowing to extract detailed information on the excited-state electronic and nuclear structure. Most bands are overtones and combinations of the out-of-plane vibrations ν'(1), ν'(2), and ν'(3). Their large intensities reflect butterfly-, boat-, and twist-deformations of the 5MCyt framework upon electronic excitation. From the rotational contours of the 0(0)(0), 1(0)(2), 2(0)(2), and 3(0)(2) bands, the transition is found to be polarized along the in-plane a/b axes, characteristic of a (1)ππ* transition. Approximate second-order coupled-cluster (CC2) and time-dependent B3LYP calculations both predict that 5MCyt undergoes an out-of-plane deformation in its (1)ππ* (S(2)) state but both methods overestimate the out-of-plane ν'(1), ν'(2), and ν'(3) vibrational frequencies by a factor of 3–5. The TD-B3LYP (1)ππ* transition dipole moment direction is 10%:90% a:b, in good agreement with experiment. From the Lorentzian line shape contributions needed to fit the rotational contours, a lower limit to the 5MCyt (1)ππ* state lifetime at the 0(0)(0), 1(0)(2), 2(0)(2), and 3(0)(2) bands is determined as τ ≥ 30 ps. These values are in stark contrast to the ultrafast (picosecond) lifetimes measured for jet-cooled cytosine by femtosecond pump–probe techniques. They also confirm the observation from the R2PI spectrum that 5-methylation of cytosine increases its excited-state lifetime. The higher out-of-plane overtone and combination bands disappear from the spectrum by ~460 cm(–1), signaling the onset of lifetimes τ < 0.5 ps, induced by excitation of the ν'(1), ν'(2), and ν'(3) modes. Above 460 cm(–1) the in-plane fundamentals 9(0)(1), 10(0)(1), and 17(0)(1) are weakly observed, implying that the in-plane vibrations couple weakly to the out-of-plane modes and have lifetimes τ > 3 ps up to 720 cm(–1) excess vibrational energy.

Among the weak intermolecular interactions found in proteins, the amide N--H...pi interaction has been widely observed but remains poorly characterized as an individual interaction. We have investigated the isolated supersonic-jet-cooled dimer of the cis-amide and nucleobase analogue 2-pyridone (2PY) with benzene and benzene-d6. Both MP2 and SCS-MP2 geometry optimizations yield a T-shaped structure with a N--H...pi hydrogen bond to the benzene ring and the C=O group above, but far from the C--H bonds of benzene. The CCSD(T) calculated binding energy at the optimum geometry is De = 25.2 kJ/mol (dissociation energy D0 = 21.6 kJ/mol), corresponding to the H-bond strength of the water dimer or of N--H...O hydrogen bonds. The T-shaped geometry is supported by the infrared-ultraviolet depletion spectra of 2PY x benzene: The N--H stretch vibrational frequency is lowered by 56 cm(-1), and the C=O stretch vibration is lowered by 10 cm(-1), relative to those of bare 2PY, indicating a strong N--H...pi interaction and a weak interaction of the C=O group. The benzene C--H infrared stretches exhibit very small shifts (approximately 2 cm(-1)) relative to benzene, signaling the absence of interactions with the benzene C--H groups. The infrared spectral shifts are consistent with a strong nonconventional pi hydrogen bond and a T-shaped structure for 2PY x benzene. Symmetry-adapted perturbation theory calculations show that the N--H...pi interaction is by far the dominant stabilization factor.