Reactions of hydroxyl radical (^·OH) and oxide radical anion (O^·−) with 2-aminopurine in aqueous medium

Abstract

Pulse radiolysis has been used to investigate the reaction of hydroxyl radical (^·OH) and oxide radical anion (O^·−) with 2-aminopurine (2AP), a fluorescent analogue of adenine, in aqueous medium. The second-order rate constant for the reaction of ^·OH with 2AP was determined to be 3 × 10⁹ dm³ mol⁻¹s⁻¹ and for the reaction of O^·− it was 7.1 × 10⁸ dm³ mol⁻¹s⁻¹. The transient absorption spectrum obtained in the reaction of ^·OH at pH 7 has absorption maxima at 370 and 470 nm. The spectrum undergoes a time-dependent transformation at higher time-scale. The intermediate species was found to react with N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD). The yield of TMPD^·+ was calculated in terms of G(TMPD^·+) to be 3.3 × 10⁻⁷ mol J⁻¹ at pH 7. The ^·OH reactions were also carried out at pH 10 and the transient absorption spectra have λ _max at 400 and 480 nm. The transient spectra obtained in the reaction of O^·− at pH ≈14 have maxima at 400 and 480 nm. The transient intermediate species at pH 7 are assigned to the formation of 2AP-4-OH^· (54%), 2AP-5-OH^· (7%) and 2AP-8-OH^· (39%) based on the spectral evidence and TMPD^·+ build-up. Both 2AP-4-OH^· and 2AP-5-OH^· undergo OH⁻ elimination to form a radical cation. At higher pH (pH 10), the dehydration reaction of these OH-adducts leads to a N-centered radical (2AP-N(9)^·, 71%). Formation of 2AP-8-OH^· (29%) is also proposed at this pH. In the reaction of O^·− with 2AP, it is proposed that a similar nitrogen centered 2AP-N(9)^· radical is formed by an electron-transfer reaction at N(9).