Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Vol.115, No.38, 10445-10451, 2011
Initial Excited-State Structural Dynamics of 2'-Deoxyguanosine Determined via UV Resonance Raman Spectroscopy
The resonance Raman spectra of 2'-deoxyguanosine, a DNA nucleoside, were measured in aqueous solution at wavelengths throughout its 260 nm absorption band. Self-consistent analysis of the resulting resonance Raman excitation profiles and absorption spectrum using a time-dependent wave packet formalism with two electronic states yielded the initial excited-state structural dynamics in both states. The vibrational modes containing the N-7=C-8 stretching and C-8-H bending internal coordinates were found to exhibit significant initial structural dynamics upon photoexcitation to either state and are coincident with the photochemical reaction coordinate involving the formation of the 2'-deoxyguanosine cation radical.