The exocyclic amino group of adenine in PtII and PdII complexes: a critical comparison of the X-ray crystallographic structural data and gas phase calculations.

A detailed computational (DFT level of theory) study regarding the nature of the exocyclic amino group, N6H2, of the model nucleobase 9-methyladenine (9MeA) and its protonated (9MeAH+) and deprotonated forms (9MeA-H), free and metal-complexed, has been conducted. The metals are PtII and PdII, bonded to nitrogen-containing co-ligands (NH3, dien, bpy), with N1, N6, and N7 being the metal-binding sites, individually or in different combinations. The results obtained from gas phase calculations are critically compared with X-ray crystallography data, whenever possible. In the majority of cases, there is good qualitative agreement between calculated and experimentally determined C6-N6 bond lengths, but calculated values always show a trend to larger values, by 0.02-0.08 Å. Both methods indicate, with few exceptions, a high degree of double-bond character of C6-N6, consistent with an essentially sp2-hybridized N6 atom. The shortest values for C6-N6 distances in X-ray crystal structures are around 1.30 Å. Exceptions refer to cases in which DFT calculations suggest the existence of a hydrogen bond with N6H2 acting as a H bond acceptor, hence a situation with N6 having undergone a substantial hybridization shift toward sp3. Nevertheless, even in these cases the C6-N6 bond (1.392 Å) is still halfway between a typical C-N single bond (1.48 Å) and a typical C=N double bond (1.28 Å). This scenario is, however, not borne out by X-ray crystallographic results, and is attributed to the absence of counter anions and solvent molecules in the calculated structures.

Multiple metal binding to the 9-methyladenine model nucleobase involving N1, N6, and N7: discrete di- and trinuclear species with different combinations of monofunctional Pd(II) and Pt(II) entities.

Several di- and trinuclear metal complexes consisting of the model nucleobase 9-methyladenine (9-MeA) or its mono-deprotonated form (9-MeA(-)) and monofunctional (dien)Pd(II), (dien)Pt(II), (NH(3))(3)Pt(II), or (trpy)Pd(II) in different combinations have been prepared and/or studied in solution by NMR spectroscopy: [{Pd(dien)}(3)(9-MeA(-)-N1,N6,N7)]Cl(3.5)(PF(6))(1.5)·3H(2)O (1), [(dien)Pd(N1-9-MeA-N7)Pt(NH(3))(3)](ClO(4))(4)·9.33H(2)O (2), [(dien)Pt(N1-9-MeA-N7)Pt(NH(3))(3)](ClO(4))(4)·H(2)O (3), and [{(trpy)Pd}(2)(N1,N6-9-MeA(-)-N7)Pt(NH(3))(3)](ClO(4))(5)·3H(2)O (4). A migration product of 3, [(dien)Pt(N6-9-MeA(-)-N7)Pt(NH(3))(3)](3+) (3a), has been identified in solution. Unlike Pt-adenine bonds, Pd-adenine bonds are substantially labile, and consequently all Pd-containing complexes discussed here (1, 2, 4) exist in aqueous solution in equilibria of slowly interconverting species, which give rise to individual resonances in the (1)H NMR spectra. For example, 1 exists in an equilibrium of five adenine-containing species when dissolved in D(2)O, 2 undergoes dissociation to [Pt(NH(3))(3)(9-MeA-N7)](2+) or forms the migration product [(dien)Pd(N6-9-MeA(-)-N7)Pt(NH(3))(3)](3+) (2a), depending on pD, and 4 loses both (trpy)Pd(II) entities as the pD is increased. In no case is Pd binding to N3 of the adenine ring observed. A comparison of the solid-state structures of the two trinuclear complexes 1 and 4 reveals distinct differences between the Pd atoms bonded to N1 and N6 in that these are substantially out of the nucleobase plane in 1, by ca. 0.6 Å and -1.0 Å, respectively, whereas they are coplanar with the 9-MeA(-) plane in 4. These out-of-plane movements of the two (dien)Pd(II) units in 1 are not accompanied by changes in hybridization states of the N1 and N6 atoms.