Efficient deactivation of a model base pair via excited-state hydrogen transfer.

We present experimental and theoretical evidence for an excited-state deactivation mechanism specific to hydrogen-bonded aromatic dimers, which may account, in part, for the photostability of the Watson-Crick base pairs in DNA. Femtosecond time-resolved mass spectroscopy of 2-aminopyridine clusters reveals an excited-state lifetime of 65 +/- 10 picoseconds for the near-planar hydrogen-bonded dimer, which is significantly shorter than the lifetime of either the monomer or the 3- and 4-membered nonplanar clusters. Ab initio calculations of reaction pathways and potential-energy profiles identify the mechanism of the enhanced excited-state decay of the dimer: Conical intersections connect the locally excited 1pipi* state and the electronic ground state with a 1pipi* charge-transfer state that is strongly stabilized by the transfer of a proton.