On the Interaction between Superatom Al 12 Be and DNA Nucleobases/BasePairs: Bonding Nature and Potential Applicationsin O 2 Activation and CO Oxidation

The interaction between quasi-chalcogen superatom Al12Be and DNA nucleobases/base pairs has been explored by searching for the most stable Al12Be–X (X = DNA bases and base pairs) complexes. Our results reveal that Al12Be prefers to combine with guanine by two Al–O and Al–N bonds rather than the other DNA bases, no matter in free state or base pair. The formed Al–N and Al–O bonds between Al12Be and DNA bases proved to be strong polar covalent bonds by the Wiberg bond index, nature bond orbitals, atoms in molecules theory, localized molecular orbitals, and electron localization functions analyses. More importantly, it is found that the formed global minimum of Al12Be–G has the ability to activate an oxygen molecule into a peroxide dianion 1O22–, which can further catalyze the CO oxidation via the Eley–Rideal mechanism with a small energy barrier of 7.78 kcal/mol. We hope that this study could not only provide an in-depth understanding on the intermolecular interaction between metallic superatoms and DNA at the molecular level but also attract more interest in designing and synthesizing superatom-based heterogeneous catalysts with DNA/nucleobases as basic building blocks.