Structure of Radicals from X-Irradiated Guanine Derivatives. 2. An Experimental and Computational Study of 9-Ethylguanine Single Crystals

Abstract

An EPR (electron paramagnetic resonance) and ENDOR (electron-nuclear double resonance) study of 9-ethylguanine crystals X-irradiated at 10 K detected evidence for three radical forms. Radical R1, characterized by three proton and two nitrogen hyperfine interactions, was identified as the product of net hydrogenation at N7 of the guanine unit. R1, which evidently formed by protonation of the primary electron addition product, exhibited an unusually distorted structure leading to net positive isotropic components of the alpha-coupling to the hydrogen attached to C8 of the guanine unit. Radical R2, characterized by two nitrogen and three proton hyperfine couplings, was identified as the primary electron loss product, *G+. Distinguishing between *G+ and its N1-deprotonated product is difficult because their couplings are so similar, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations were indispensable for doing so. The results for R2 provide the most complete ENDOR characterization of *G+ presented so far. Radical R3 exhibited a narrow EPR pattern but could not be identified. The identification of radicals R1 and R2 was supported by DFT calculations using the B3LYP/6-311+G(2df,p)//6-31+G(d,p) approach. Radical R4, detected after irradiation of the crystals at room temperature, was identified as the well-known product of net hydrogenation at C8 of the guanine component. Spectra from the room temperature irradiation contained evidence for R5, an additional radical that could not be identified. Radical concentrations from the low temperature irradiation were estimated as follows: R1, 20%; R2, 65%; R3, 15%.