Orbital based electronic structural signatures of the guanine keto G-7H/G-9H tautomer pair as studied using dual space analysis

Thermochemistry of Guanine Tautomers Re-Examined by Means of High-Level CCSD(T) Composite Ab Initio Methods

We obtained accurate gas-phase tautomerization energies for a set of 14 guanine tautomers by means of high-level thermochemical procedures approximating the CCSD(T) energy at the complete basis set (CBS) limit. For the five low-lying tautomers, we use the computationally demanding W1-F12 composite method for obtaining the tautomerization energies. The relative W1-F12 tautomerization enthalpies at 298K are: 0.00 (1), 2.37 (2), 2.63 (3), 4.03 (3′), and 14.31 (4) kJmol−1. Thus, as many as four tautomers are found within a small energy window of less than 1.0kcalmol−1 (1kcalmol−1=4.184kJmol−1). We use these highly accurate W1-F12 tautomerization energies to evaluate the performance of a wide range of lower-level composite ab initio procedures. The Gn composite procedures (G4, G4(MP2), G4(MP2)-6X, G3, G3B3, G3(MP2), and G3(MP2)B3) predict that the enol tautomer (3) is more stable than the keto tautomer (2) by amounts ranging from 0.36 (G4) to 1.28 (G3(MP2)) kJmol−1. We also find that an approximated CCSD(T)/CBS energy calculated as HF/jul-cc-pV{D,T}Z+CCSD/jul-cc-pVTZ+(T)/jul-cc-pVDZ results in a root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) of merely 0.11kJmol−1 relative to the W1-F12 reference values. We use this approximated CCSD(T)/CBS method to obtain the tautomerization energies of 14 guanine tautomers. The relative tautomerization enthalpies at 298K are: 0.00 (1), 2.20 (2), 2.51 (3), 4.06 (3′), 14.30 (4), 25.65 (5), 43.78 (4′), 53.50 (6′), 61.58 (6), 77.37 (7), 82.52 (8′), 86.02 (9), 100.70 (10), and 121.01 (8) kJmol−1. Using these tautomerization enthalpies, we evaluate the performance of standard and composite methods for the entire set of 14 guanine tautomers. The best-performing procedures emerge as (RMSDs are given in parentheses): G4(MP2)-6X (0.51), CCSD(T)+ΔMP2/CBS (0.52), and G4(MP2) (0.64kJmol−1). The worst performers are CCSD(T)/AVDZ (1.05), CBS-QB3 (1.24), and CBS-APNO (1.38kJmol−1).

Electron correlation effects and density analysis of the first-order hyperpolarizability of neutral guanine tautomers

Dipole moments (μ), charge distributions, and static electronic first-order hyperpolarizabilities (β(μ)) of the two lowest-energy keto tautomers of guanine (7H and 9H) were determined in the gas phase using Hartree-Fock, Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2 and MP4), and DFT (PBE1PBE, B97-1, B3LYP, CAM-B3LYP) methods with Dunning's correlation-consistent aug-cc-pVDZ and d-aug-cc-pVDZ basis sets. The most stable isomer 7H exhibits a μ value smaller than that of the 9H form by a factor of ca. 3.5. The β μ value of the 9H tautomer is strongly dependent on the computational method employed, as it dramatically influences the β(μ) (9H)/β(μ) (7H) ratio, which at the highest correlated MP4/aug-cc-pVDZ level is predicted to be ca. 5. The Coulomb-attenuating hybrid exchange-correlation CAM-B3LYP method is superior to the conventional PBE1PBE, B3LYP, and B97-1 functionals in predicting the β(μ) values. Differences between the largest diagonal hyperpolarizability components were clarified through hyperpolarizability density analyses. Dipole moment and first-order hyperpolarizability are molecular properties that are potentially useful for distinguishing the 7H from the 9H tautomer.

Orbital signatures of methyl in L-alanine

Molecular orbital signatures of the methyl substituent in L-alanine have been identified with respect to those of glycine from information obtained in coordinate and momentum space, using dual space analysis. Electronic structural information in coordinate space is obtained using ab initio (MP2/TZVP) and density functional theory (B3LYP/TZVP) methods, from which the Dyson orbitals are simulated based on the plane wave impulse approximation into momentum space. In comparison to glycine, relaxation in geometry and valence orbitals in L-alanine is found as a result of the attachment of the methyl group. Five orbitals rather than four orbitals are identified as methyl signatures. That is, orbital 6a in the core shell, orbitals 11a and 12a in the inner valence shell, and orbitals 19a and 20a in the outer valence shell. In the inner valence shell, the attachment of methyl to glycine causes a splitting of its orbital 10a' into orbitals 11a and 12a of L-alanine, whereas in the outer valence shell the methyl group results in an insertion of an additional orbital pair of 19a and 20a. The frontier molecular orbitals, 24a and 23a, are found without any significant role in the methylation of glycine.

New Diagnostic of the Most Populated Conformer of Tetrahydrofuran in the Gas Phase

The most populated conformer of tetrahydrofuran (C(4)H(8)O) has been diagnosed as the Cs conformer in the present study, jointly using experimental electron momentum spectroscopy (EMS) and quantum mechanics. Our B3LYP/6-311++G** model indicates that the C1 conformation, which is one of the three possible conformations of tetrahydrofuran produced by pseudorotation in the gas phase, is a transition state due to its imaginary frequencies, in agreement with the prediction from a recent ab initio MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ study (J. Chem. Phys. 2005, 122, 204303). The study has identified the fingerprint of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of the C(s) (12a') conformer as the most populated conformer. The identification of the C(s) structure, therefore, leads to the orbital-based assignment of the ionization binding energy spectra of tetrahydrofuran for the first time, on the basis of the outer valence Green function OVGF/6-31G* model and the density functional theory (DFT) SAOP/ET-PVQZ model. The present study explores an innovative approach to study molecular stabilities. It also indicates that energetic properties are not always the most appropriate means to study conformer-rich biological systems.

DFT Energy Surfaces for Aminopurine Homodimers and Their Conjugate Acid Ions

Dimers of free nucleobases with their conjugate acid ions can be assigned to either of two categories: protonated dimers or proton-bound dimers. In the former, the extra proton attaches to a lone pair of a neutral dimer. In the latter, the extra proton is situated between two lone pairs and participates in a proton bridge. In general, proton-bound dimers are found to be more tightly held together than protonated dimers. While neutral adenine and its isomer 8-aminopurine (C(5)H(5)N(5)) are substantially more stable than their 7H tautomers, their conjugate acid ions and those of their respective 7H tautomers have nearly the same heats of formation. Correspondingly, the most stable (C(5)H(5)N(5))2H+ structures contain 7H tautomers as the neutral partner. Proton transit from one partner to the other within the most stable protonated dimer of 8-aminopurine has a low barrier (6 kJ mol(-1)). The potential energy curve for the NH stretch in that case is better fitted as a double minimum rather than as a harmonic potential. Purine-purine mismatches have been observed in nucleic acids, to which calculated (C(5)H(5)N(5))2H+ dimer geometries appear nearly isosteric.