Metallic surface dynamics of genomic DNA and its nitrogenous bases: SERS assessment and theoretical considerations.

The dynamics of genomic DNA and its nucleobases at a silver surface were explored using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and ab initio Verlet-type dynamics, respectively. The bands observed had full widths at half-maximum (FWHMs) in the wavenumber range 10-29 cm. (Sub)picosecond molecular dynamics with global relaxation times of 0.37-1.06 ps were noted. Furthermore, the on-surface ab initio dynamics of the DNA bases were examined using DFT with a Verlet-type algorithm. The results attained for these ergodic dynamic systems describe real systems quite well and could therefore be correlated with corresponding experimental data.