Reactivity of aromatic σ,σ-biradicals toward riboses

The gas-phase reactions of sugars with aromatic, carbon-centered sigma,sigma-biradicals with varying polarities [as reflected by their calculated electron affinities (EA)] and extent of spin-spin coupling [as reflected by their calculated singlet-triplet (S-T) gaps] have been studied. The biradicals are positively charged, which allows them to be manipulated and their reactions to be studied in a Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. Hydrogen atom abstraction from sugars was found to be the dominant reaction for the biradicals with large EA values, while the biradicals with large S-T gaps tend to form addition/elimination products instead. Hence, not all sigma, sigma-biradicals may be able to damage DNA by hydrogen atom abstraction. The overall reaction efficiencies of the biradicals towards a given substrate were found to be directly related to the magnitude of their EA values, and inversely related to their S-T gaps. The EA of a biradical appears to be a very important rate-controlling factor, and it may even counterbalance the reduced radical reactivity characteristic of singlet biradicals that have large S-T gaps.