Semiclassical dynamics of electron attachment to guanine-cytosine base pair

Honda, Tomohiro*; Minoshima, Yusuke*; Yokoi, Yuki*; Takayanagi, Toshiyuki*; Shiga, Motoyuki   

Electron attachment dynamics to the guanine-cytosine (G-C) base pair in the gas phase isstudied using DFT and molecular dynamics. The potential energy surface of the G-C anion isconstructed with the empirical-valence-bond method using force-field information obtained from long-range corrected DFT calculations. Ring-polymer molecular dynamics simulations predict that theinitial dipole-bound anion readily converts into the valence-bound anion within 0.1 ps and proton-transfer occurs subsequently within 10 ps. The same process was found in classical simulations, buton a much slower time scale. This result suggests that nuclear quantum effects are important inunderstanding DNA damage by low-energy electrons.