Abstract
Femtosecond laser experiments have recently shown that the DNA and RNA nucleobases have ultrashort fluorescence lifetimes on the order of hundreds of femtoseconds.1-3 Ultrafast excited state decay by internal conversion reduces the probability of photochemical reactions, making the monomeric nucleobases highly photostable.1 Photostability is a desirable characteristic not only of the nucleic acid building blocks, but also of the polymers themselves. However, progress at understanding the photophysics of these complex multichromophoric systems has been slow. This information is fundamental to understand how the excited states evolve to form photolesions. In order to recognize how the spatial organization of the bases affects DNA photoprocesses, we have been systematically studying defined-sequence oligonucleotides by femtosecond transient electronic spectroscopy.4-6
© 2007 Optical Society of America
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