Mechanistic insight into photocrosslinking reaction between triplet state 4-thiopyrimidine and thymine

4-Thiopyrimidine (e.g., 4-thiouracil (4-TU) and 4-thiothymine (4-TT)) is a typical kind of thiobase. With the sulfur substitution at the C4 position of the canonical pyrimidine nucleobase, 4-thiopyrimidine displays unique photophysical and photochemical properties such as red-shifted maximum absorption peaks and efficient triplet state populations. One of the properties is the photocrosslinking reaction between 4-thiopyrimidine and pyrimidine base, which plays important roles in photochemotherapy and photolabeling applications. By using density functional theory (M06-2X), we have explored the potential energy profiles of the photocrosslinking reaction between 4-thiopyrimidine (4-TU and 4-TT) and thymine in the S0 and T1 states as well as the interaction between the two states. For both (6-4) and (5-4) photocrosslinking reactions, multiple nonadiabatic pathways via minimum energy crossing points (MECPs) between potential surfaces (PESs) of the T1 and S0 states greatly facilitate the proceeding of photocrosslinking reactions and lead to the relatively stable thietane intermediate in the S0 state. The subsequent H migration in the thietane intermediate takes place solely in the S0 state with surmountable energy barriers in bulk solution, resulting in the formation of the photocrosslinked product. This research provides not only a new mechanistic insight into the photocrosslinking reaction for 4-thiopyrimidines but also a rational explanation for the experiments of UVA irradiated Tp4ST dinucleotide and 4-thiothymidine-containing oligonucleotides, facilitating the deep understanding of the synergistic cytotoxicity of 4-thiopyrimidines and UVA as well as the development of alternative phototherapeutic agents and photolabeling probes.