Driving Force Dependence of Photoinduced Electron Transfer Dynamics of Intercalated Molecules in DNA

A series of acridinium, quinolinium, and phenanthridinium ions (9-substituted-10-methylacridinium (AcrR⁺, R = H, Pr^I, and CH₂Ph), 3-substituted-1-methylquinolinium (RQuH⁺, R = CN and Br), and 5-methylphenanthridinium (5-MePhen⁺) perchlorate salts) are shown to be intercalated into the DNA double helix from calf thymus. The one-electron reduction potentials (E_red⁰) of these intercalates have been determined in the absence and presence of DNA by both cyclic voltammetry and second harmonic ac voltammetry. The E0_red values of intercalators are shifted in a positive direction by intercalation into the DNA double helix. The one-electron oxidation potential (E _ox⁰) of ethidium bromide, which is known to be intercalated into DNA, is also shifted in a positive direction by the intercalation. The wide range of E0_red values of intercalators thus determined in the presence of DNA allows us to examine the exact driving force dependence of the rates of photoinduced electron transfer from the singlet excited state of ethidium bromide to the intercalators in DNA for the first time. The resulting data were evaluated in light of the Marcus theory of electron transfer to determine the reorganization energy and the electron coupling matrix element in DNA.