Ab initio insight into ultrafast nonadiabatic decay of hypoxanthine: keto-N7H and keto-N9H tautomers.

Nonadiabatic dynamics simulations at the SA-CASSCF level were performed for the two most stable keto-N7H and keto-N9H tautomers of hypoxanthine in order to obtain deep insight into the lifetime of the optically bright S-1((1)pi pi*) excited state and the relevant decay mechanisms. Supporting calculations on the ground-state (S-0) equilibrium structures and minima on the crossing seams of both tautomers were carried out at the MR-CIS and CASSCF levels. These studies indicate that there are four slightly different kinds of conical intersections in each tautomer, exhibiting a chiral character, each of which dominates a barrierless reaction pathway. Moreover, both tautomers reveal the ultrafast S-1 -> S-0 decay, in which the S1 state of keto-N9H in the gas phase has a lifetime of 85.5 fs, whereas that of keto-N7H has a longer lifetime of 137.7 fs. An excellent agreement is found between the present results and the experimental value of 130 +/- 20 fs in aqueous solution.