Nitrogen K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra of purine-containing nucleotides in aqueous solution

Shimada, Hiroyuki*; Fukao, Taishi*; Minami, Hirotake*; Ukai, Masatoshi*; Fujii, Kentaro; Yokoya, Akinari; Fukuda, Yoshihiro*; Saito, Yuji  

The N K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra of the purine-containing nucleotide, guanosine 5'-monophosphate (GMP), in aqueous solution are measured under various pH conditions. The spectra show characteristic peaks, which originate from resonant excitations of N 1s electrons to orbitals inside the guanine moiety of GMP. The relative intensities of these peaks depend on the pH values of the solution. The pH dependence is explained by the core-level shift of N atoms at specific sites caused by protonation and deprotonation. The experimental spectra are compared with theoretical spectra calculated by using density functional theory for GMP and the other purine-containing nucleotides, adenosine 5'-monophosphate, and adenosine 5'-triphosphate. The N K-edge XANES spectra for all of these nucleotides are classified by the numbers of N atoms with particular chemical bonding characteristics in the purine moiety.