Initial excited-state structural dynamics of 6-substituted uracil derivatives: femtosecond angle and bond lengthening dynamics in pyrimidine nucleobase photochemistry.

Substituents on the pyrimidine ring of nucleobases appear to play a major role in determining their initial excited-state structural dynamics and resulting photochemistry. To better understand the determinants of nucleobase initial excited-state structural dynamics, we have measured the absorption and resonance Raman excitation profiles of 6-deuterouracil (6-d-U) and 6-methyluracil (6-MeU). Simulation of the resonance Raman excitation profiles and absorption spectrum with a self-consistent, time-dependent formalism shows the effect of the deuterium and methyl group on the photochemically active internal coordinates, i.e. C5C6 stretch and C5X and C6X bends. The methyl group on either the C5 or C6 position of uracil equally increases the excited-state reorganization energies along the C5C6 stretch. However, a lower reorganization energy of the C5X + C6X bends in 6-MeU than uracil and 5-MeU shows that C6 methyl substituents reduce the bending reorganization energy. In addition, deuterium substitution at either C5 or C6 has a much smaller effect on the initial excited-state structural dynamics than methyl substitution, consistent with a mass effect. These results will be discussed in light of the resulting photochemistry of pyrimidine nucleobases.