Electron attachment to the cytosine-centered DNA single strands: does base stacking matter?

Electron attachment to the trimer of nucleotide, dGpdCpdG, has been investigated by a quantum mechanical approach at a reliable level of theory. The study of the electron attached dGpdCpdG species demonstrates that cytosine contained DNA single strands have a strong tendency to capture low-energy electrons and to form electronically stable cytosine-centered radical anions. The comparative study of the model molecules pdCpdG and dGpdCp reveals that base stacking has little contribution to the adiabatic electron affinity (AEA) of cytosine in DNA single strands. Additionally, the base-base stacking does not affect the vertical detachment energy (VDE) of the cytosine-centered radicals. Intrastrand H-bonding is found to be critical in increasing the values of the AEA and VDE. However, base-base stacking is revealed to be important in enlarging the vertical electron affinity (VEA) of cytosine. The electron attachment to the cytosine moiety intensifies the intrastrand H-bonding between the neighboring G and C bases. This process disrupts the base-base stacking interaction in the radical anion of dGpdCpdG.