The interaction between N,N,1,9-tetramethylguanine and the Li' ion is investigated in acetonitrile and in the solid state by FT-IR spectrophotometry. The spectroscopic results are in agreement with the ab initio calculations of Del Bene which predict a structure where Li+ is bonded to the N7 and 0 6 atoms. In contrast, protonation takes place on the N7 atom. The comparison of results for other carbonyl systems allows to establish a correlation between the calculated elongation of the carbonyl bond and the frequency variation of the "c=o vibration.
INTRODUCTIONProtonation of nucleic bases and their complexation with metal ions has a profound influence on their structure and reactivity (1-3). The interaction between the Li' ion and carbonyl bases has been investigated by vibrational spectroscopy (4-8), ab initio calculations (8-15) and X-Ray diffraction (16). Despite their biological interest, very few experimental results for the interaction between the nucleic acid bases and the Li + ion are available in the literature. The infrared spectrum of the 1,3-dimethyluracil. Li + complex has been recently investigated (17). To fill this gap, the present work present the results of a FT-IR study for the