Transients of uracil and thymine derivatives and the quantum yields of electron ejection and intersystem crossing upon 20 ns photolysis at 248 nm.

Transients of uracil and a series of 17 correlated pyrimidines, e.g. methylated bases, nucleosides, nucleotides, and polyuridylic acid [poly(U)] were studied after 248 nm excitation by 20 ns laser pulses. The transient absorption spectra in aqueous solution at room temperature reveal the triplet state and the hydrated electron (e-aq), while the corresponding radical cation could not be observed at pH 6-7. Fast loss of the chromophore in the 260-290 nm range within 0.1 microsecond was observed in aqueous solution in some cases [e.g. poly(U), 5'-UMP, uridine, uracil] and in others (thymine, thymidine) virtually not. This photobleaching is assigned to formation of the photohydrate. The concentration of e-aq shows a quadratic dependence on the laser pulse intensity (IL) in the range (0.2-2) x 10(7) W cm-2 and the quantum yield of electron ejection (phi c-) thus depends linearly on IL. This behaviour, suggesting that the photoionization involves a two-step absorption process, was found for poly(U) and all pyrimidine monomers examined. At a constant IL value of 2 x 10(7) W cm-2, phi c- ranges from 3 x 10(-3) for 1,3-dimethylthymine to 4 x 10(-2) for poly(U). The triplet state shows a much larger transient absorbance (delta A, typically in a broad range, e.g. 290-500 nm) than that of the neutral radical resulting from the radical cation. The triplet state in organic solvents (acetonitrile and ethanol) shows generally a significantly larger delta A value than in aqueous solution. The estimated quantum yields of intersystem crossing at room temperature are compared with those of phosphorescence at -196 degrees C.