Guanine alkylation by ethylene oxide: calculation of chemical reactivity.

In this paper we report on calculations of the activation free energy for a chemical reaction between ethylene oxide and guanine. Ethylene oxide is biologically relevant per se and is also a model compound for numerous ultimate carcinogens. Calculations were performed on the medium-high ab initio, DFT, and semiempirical MO levels. Effects of solvation were considered using the Langevine dipole method and solvent reaction field method of Tomasi and co-workers. The calculated activation free energies are in reasonable agreement with the experimental value.