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Navarrete-Miguel M, Giussani A, Rubio M, Boggio-Pasqua M, Borin AC, Roca-Sanjuán D. Quantum-Chemistry Study of the Photophysical Properties of 4-Thiouracil and Comparisons with 2-Thiouracil. J Phys Chem A 2024; 128:2273-2285. [PMID: 38504122 PMCID: PMC10982997 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.3c06310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Revised: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 03/03/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024]
Abstract
DNA in living beings is constantly damaged by exogenous and endogenous agents. However, in some cases, DNA photodamage can have interesting applications, as it happens in photodynamic therapy. In this work, the current knowledge on the photophysics of 4-thiouracil has been extended by further quantum-chemistry studies to improve the agreement between theory and experiments, to better understand the differences with 2-thiouracil, and, last but not least, to verify its usefulness as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy. This study has been carried out by determining the most favorable deactivation paths of UV-vis photoexcited 4-thiouracil by means of the photochemical reaction path approach and an efficient combination of the complete-active-space second-order perturbation theory//complete-active-space self-consistent field (CASPT2//CASSCF), (CASPT2//CASPT2), time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT), and spin-flip TDDFT (SF-TDDFT) methodologies. By comparing the data computed herein for both 4-thiouracil and 2-thiouracil, a rationale is provided on the relatively higher yields of intersystem crossing, triplet lifetime and singlet oxygen production of 4-thiouracil, and the relatively higher yield of phosphorescence of 2-thiouracil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Navarrete-Miguel
- Instituto
de Ciencia Molecular, Universitat de València, P.O. Box 22085, ES-46071 Valencia, Spain
| | - Angelo Giussani
- Instituto
de Ciencia Molecular, Universitat de València, P.O. Box 22085, ES-46071 Valencia, Spain
| | - Mercedes Rubio
- Departament
de Química Física, Universitat
de València, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
| | - Martial Boggio-Pasqua
- Laboratoire
de Chimie et Physique Quantiques, IRSAMC,
CNRS et Université Toulouse 3, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Antonio Carlos Borin
- Department
of Fundamental Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry,
University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 748, São Paulo CEP 05508-000, Brazil
| | - Daniel Roca-Sanjuán
- Instituto
de Ciencia Molecular, Universitat de València, P.O. Box 22085, ES-46071 Valencia, Spain
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2
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Xie M, Ren SX, Hu D, Zhong JM, Luo J, Tan Y, Li YP, Si LP, Cao J. The impact of the chalcogen-substitution element and initial spectroscopic state on excited-state relaxation pathways in nucleobase photosensitizers: a combination of static and dynamic studies. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:27756-27765. [PMID: 37814579 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp03730d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/11/2023]
Abstract
The substitution of oxygen with chalcogen in carbonyl group(s) of canonical nucleobases gives an impressive triplet generation, enabling their promising applications in medicine and other emerging techniques. The excited-state relaxation S2(ππ*) → S1(nπ*) → T1(ππ*) has been considered the preferred path for triplet generation in these nucleobase derivatives. Here, we demonstrate enhanced quantum efficiency of direct intersystem crossing from S2 to triplet manifold upon substitution with heavier chalcogen elements. The excited-state relaxation dynamics of sulfur/selenium substituted guanines in a vacuum is investigated using a combination of static quantum chemical calculations and on-the-fly excited-state molecular dynamics simulations. We find that in sulfur-substitution the S2 state predominantly decays to the S1 state, while upon selenium-substitution the S2 state deactivation leads to simultaneous population of the S1 and T2,3 states in the same time scale and multi-state quasi-degeneracy region S2/S1/T2,3. Interestingly, the ultrafast deactivation of the spectroscopic S3 state of both studied molecules to the S1 state occurs through a successive S3 → S2 → S1 path involving a multi-state quasi-degeneracy S3/S2/S1. The populated S1 and T2 states will cross the lowest triplet state, and the S1 → T intersystem crossing happens in a multi-state quasi-degeneracy region S1/T2,3/T1 and is accelerated by selenium-substitution. The present study reveals the influence of both the chalcogen substitution element and initial spectroscopic state on the excited-state relaxation mechanism of nucleobase photosensitizers and also highlights the important role of multi-state quasi-degeneracy in mediating the complex relaxation process. These theoretical results provide additional insights into the intrinsic photophysics of nucleobase-based photosensitizers and are helpful for designing novel photo-sensitizers for real applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Xie
- School of Materials Science and Hydrogen Energy & Guangdong Key Laboratory for Hydrogen Energy Technologies, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, 528000, P. R. China
| | - Shuang-Xiao Ren
- School of Materials Science and Hydrogen Energy & Guangdong Key Laboratory for Hydrogen Energy Technologies, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, 528000, P. R. China
| | - Die Hu
- School of Materials Science and Hydrogen Energy & Guangdong Key Laboratory for Hydrogen Energy Technologies, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, 528000, P. R. China
| | - Ji-Meng Zhong
- School of Materials Science and Hydrogen Energy & Guangdong Key Laboratory for Hydrogen Energy Technologies, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, 528000, P. R. China
| | - Jie Luo
- School of Materials Science and Hydrogen Energy & Guangdong Key Laboratory for Hydrogen Energy Technologies, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, 528000, P. R. China
| | - Yin Tan
- School of Materials Science and Hydrogen Energy & Guangdong Key Laboratory for Hydrogen Energy Technologies, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, 528000, P. R. China
| | - Yan-Ping Li
- School of Medicine, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, 528000, P. R. China
| | - Li-Ping Si
- School of Materials Science and Hydrogen Energy & Guangdong Key Laboratory for Hydrogen Energy Technologies, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, 528000, P. R. China
| | - Jun Cao
- School of Materials Science and Hydrogen Energy & Guangdong Key Laboratory for Hydrogen Energy Technologies, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, 528000, P. R. China
- Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory of Computational Nano-Material Science, Guizhou Education University, Guiyang, Guizhou, 550018, P. R. China.
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3
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Liang W, Pei Z, Mao Y, Shao Y. Evaluation of molecular photophysical and photochemical properties using linear response time-dependent density functional theory with classical embedding: Successes and challenges. J Chem Phys 2022; 156:210901. [DOI: 10.1063/5.0088271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) based approaches have been developed in recent years to model the excited-state properties and transition processes of the molecules in the gas-phase and in a condensed medium, such as in a solution and protein microenvironment or near semiconductor and metal surfaces. In the latter case, usually, classical embedding models have been adopted to account for the molecular environmental effects, leading to the multi-scale approaches of TDDFT/polarizable continuum model (PCM) and TDDFT/molecular mechanics (MM), where a molecular system of interest is designated as the quantum mechanical region and treated with TDDFT, while the environment is usually described using either a PCM or (non-polarizable or polarizable) MM force fields. In this Perspective, we briefly review these TDDFT-related multi-scale models with a specific emphasis on the implementation of analytical energy derivatives, such as the energy gradient and Hessian, the nonadiabatic coupling, the spin–orbit coupling, and the transition dipole moment as well as their nuclear derivatives for various radiative and radiativeless transition processes among electronic states. Three variations of the TDDFT method, the Tamm–Dancoff approximation to TDDFT, spin–flip DFT, and spin-adiabatic TDDFT, are discussed. Moreover, using a model system (pyridine–Ag20 complex), we emphasize that caution is needed to properly account for system–environment interactions within the TDDFT/MM models. Specifically, one should appropriately damp the electrostatic embedding potential from MM atoms and carefully tune the van der Waals interaction potential between the system and the environment. We also highlight the lack of proper treatment of charge transfer between the quantum mechanics and MM regions as well as the need for accelerated TDDFT modelings and interpretability, which calls for new method developments.
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Affiliation(s)
- WanZhen Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, and Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People’s Republic of China
| | - Zheng Pei
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, and Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yuezhi Mao
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
| | - Yihan Shao
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019, USA
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4
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Santoro F, Green JA, Martinez-Fernandez L, Cerezo J, Improta R. Quantum and semiclassical dynamical studies of nonadiabatic processes in solution: achievements and perspectives. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:8181-8199. [PMID: 33875988 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp05907b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
We concisely review the main methodological approaches to model nonadiabatic dynamics in isotropic solutions and their applications. Three general classes of models are identified as the most used to include solvent effects in the simulations. The first model describes the solvent as a set of harmonic collective modes coupled to the solute degrees of freedom, and the second as a continuum, while the third explicitly includes solvent molecules in the calculations. The issues related to the use of these models in semiclassical and quantum dynamical simulations are discussed, as well as the main limitations and perspectives of each approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabrizio Santoro
- CNR-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy.
| | - James A Green
- CNR-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), via Mezzocannone 16, I-80136 Napoli, Italy.
| | - Lara Martinez-Fernandez
- Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias and Institute for Advanced Research in Chemistry (IADCHEM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus de Excelencia UAM-CSIC, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Javier Cerezo
- Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias and Institute for Advanced Research in Chemistry (IADCHEM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus de Excelencia UAM-CSIC, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Roberto Improta
- CNR-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), via Mezzocannone 16, I-80136 Napoli, Italy.
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5
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Suchan J, Janoš J, Slavíček P. Pragmatic Approach to Photodynamics: Mixed Landau–Zener Surface Hopping with Intersystem Crossing. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:5809-5820. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jiří Suchan
- Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Technická 5, 16628 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Janoš
- Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Technická 5, 16628 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Slavíček
- Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Technická 5, 16628 Prague, Czech Republic
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6
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Cao J, Chen DC. The excited-state relaxation mechanism of potential UVA-activated phototherapeutic molecules: trajectory surface hopping simulations of both 4-thiothymine and 2,4-dithiothymine. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2020; 22:10924-10933. [PMID: 32373808 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp01450h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Recent experimental investigations of the photochemical properties of a series of sulfur-substituted pyrimidine derivatives provide insights into the phototherapeutic potential of these nucleobase variants. Herein we elucidate the triplet formation mechanism of two prospective UVA-activated phototherapeutic molecules, 4-thiothymine and 2,4-dithiothymine, upon photo-excitation by applying the trajectory surface hopping dynamics at the LR-TDDFT level. Our simulations reasonably reproduce the experimental time constants and demonstrate the preferred triplet formation pathway which starts from the S1(nSπ*) state for both molecules. It is found that deactivation of the first bright state to the S1(nSπ*) state proceeds through a mechanism involving elongation of the C5-C6 and C4-S8 bond-lengths and C2-pyramidalization in 4-thiothymine and involving elongation of the C5-C6 and C2-S7 bond-lengths in 2,4-dithiothymine. The intersystem crossing of 2,4-dithiothymine occurs either at geometries characterized by elongated C5-C6 and C2-S7 bond-lengths or at geometries showing elongated C5-C6 and C4-S8 bond-lengths as seen in 4-thiothymine. The solvents are found to affect the S2 state decay of 4-thiothymine, leading to a competing pathway between S2→ S1 and S2→ T3. This study provides a molecular-level understanding of the underlying excited-state relaxation of the two UVA-activated thiopyrimidines, which may be linked to their potential applications in pharmacological science and also prove helpful for designing more effective phototherapeutic agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Cao
- School of Materials Science and Energy Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong 528000, P. R. China.
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7
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Kaliakin DS, Fedorov DG, Alexeev Y, Varganov SA. Locating Minimum Energy Crossings of Different Spin States Using the Fragment Molecular Orbital Method. J Chem Theory Comput 2019; 15:6074-6084. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.9b00641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Danil S. Kaliakin
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada 89557-0216, United States
| | - Dmitri G. Fedorov
- Research Center for Computational Design of Advanced Functional Materials (CD-FMat), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 2, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba 305-8568, Japan
| | - Yuri Alexeev
- Computational Science Division and Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Sergey A. Varganov
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada 89557-0216, United States
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8
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Bellonzi N, Medders GR, Epifanovsky E, Subotnik JE. Configuration interaction singles with spin-orbit coupling: Constructing spin-adiabatic states and their analytical nuclear gradients. J Chem Phys 2019; 150:014106. [PMID: 30621414 DOI: 10.1063/1.5045484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
For future use in modeling photoexcited dynamics and intersystem crossing, we calculate spin-adiabatic states and their analytical nuclear gradients within configuration interaction singles theory. These energies and forces should be immediately useful for surface hopping dynamics, which are natural within an adiabatic framework. The resulting code has been implemented within the Q-Chem software and preliminary results suggest that the additional cost of including spin-orbit coupling within the singles-singles block is not large.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Bellonzi
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Gregory R Medders
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Evgeny Epifanovsky
- Q-Chem, Inc., 6601 Owens Drive, Suite 105, Pleasanton, California 94588, USA
| | - Joseph E Subotnik
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
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9
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Kamiya M, Taketsugu T. Ab initio surface hopping excited-state molecular dynamics approach on the basis of spin-orbit coupled states: An application to the A-band photodissociation of CH 3 I. J Comput Chem 2018; 40:456-463. [PMID: 30451310 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.25727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2018] [Revised: 09/21/2018] [Accepted: 09/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Ab initio molecular dynamics approach has been extended to multi-state dynamics on the basis of the spin-orbit coupled electronic states that are obtained through diagonalization of the spin-orbit coupling matrix with the multi-state second-order multireference perturbation theory energies in diagonal elements and the spin-orbit coupling terms at the state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field level in off-diagonal elements. Nonadiabatic transitions over the spin-orbit coupled states were taken into account explicitly by a surface hopping scheme with utilizing the nonadiabatic coupling terms calculated by numerical differentiation of the spin-orbit coupled wavefunctions and analytical nonadiabatic coupling terms. The present method was applied to the A-band photodissociation of methyl iodide, CH3 I + hv → CH3 + I (2 P3/2 )/I* (2 P1/2 ), for which a pioneering theoretical work was reported by Amatatsu, Yabushita, and Morokuma. The present results reproduced well the experimental branching ratio and energy distributions in the dissociative products. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muneaki Kamiya
- Faculty of Regional Studies, Gifu University, Gifu, 501-1132, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Taketsugu
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan
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