Initial excited-state structural dynamics of 9-methyladenine from UV resonance raman spectroscopy

The photophysics and photochemistry of nucleobases are the factors governing the photostability of DNA and RNA, since they are the UV chromophores in nucleic acids. Because the formation of photoproducts involves structural changes in the excited electronic state, we study here the initial excited-state structural dynamics of 9-methyladenine (9-MeA) by using UV resonance Raman (UVRR) spectroscopy. UV resonance Raman intensities are sensitive to the initial excited-state structural dynamics of molecules. Therefore, information about the initial structural changes in the excited-state of a given molecule can be obtained from its UVRR intensities. The resonance Raman spectra of 9-MeA at wavelengths throughout its 262 nm absorption band were measured, and a self-consistent analysis of the resulting resonance Raman excitation profiles and absorption spectrum was performed using a time-dependent wave packet formalism. We found that the initial structural dynamics of this molecule primarily lie along the N3C4, C4C5, C5C6, C5N7, N7C8, and C8N9 stretching vibrations and CH₃ deformation vibrations. These results are discussed in the context of photochemistry and other deactivation processes.