Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol.122, No.6, 1852-1861, 2018
Does 8-Nitroguanine Form 8-Oxoguanine? An Insight from Its Reaction with (OH)-O-center dot Radical
8-Nitroguanine (8-nitroG) formed due to nitration of guanine base of DNA plays an important role in mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. In the present contribution, state-of-the-art quantum chemical calculations using M06-2X density functional and domain-based local pair natural orbital coupled cluster theory with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations (DLPNO-CCSD(T)) methods have been carried out to investigate the mechanism of reaction of (OH)-O-center dot radical with 8-nitroG leading to the formation of 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) (one of the most mutagenic and carcinogenic derivatives of guanine) in gas phase and aqueous media. Calculations of barrier energies and rate constants involved in the addition reactions of (OH)-O-center dot radical at different sites of 8-nitroguanine show that C8 and C2 sites are the most and least reactive sites, respectively. Relative stability and Boltzmann populations of adducts show that the adduct formed at the C8 site occurs predominantly in equilibrium. Our calculations reveal that 8-nitroG is very reactive toward (OH)-O-center dot radical and is converted readily into 8-oxoG when attacked by (OH)-O-center dot radicals, in agreement with available experimental observations.