Using Implicit/Explicit Salvation Models to Theoretical Study Tautomerism in 7H-purine-2, 6-diamine

A theoretical study at the B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) level was performed on the tatumerization of 7H-purine-2, 6-diamine into 9H-purine-2, 6-diamine. Such a tautomerism can take place via three different pathways namely A, B, and C. The energetic results associated with the gas phase reveal that pathways A, B, and C display a very high activation Gibbs free energy of 45.1, 68.6 and 48.9 kcal/mol, respectively, indicating this process cannot take place in the gas phase. When solvent effects of water are taken into account through a continuum of a uniform dielectric constant, the gas phase activation Gibbs free energies increase to 58.8, 70.6, and 52.4 kcal/mol along pathway A, B, and C, respectively, emphasizing long range solute-solvent interactions do not play a key role in the considered tautomerization. The studied process can easily take place by inclusion of three molecules of water in which a significantly reduced activation Gibbs free energy of 24.8 kcal/mol indicates the predominance of short range solute-solvent interactions over the long range ones. Combination of short range and long range solute-solvent interactions lead to an activation Gibbs free energy of 23.5 kcal/mol for tatumerization of 7H-purine-2, 6-diamine into 9H-purine-2, 6-diamine. This value clearly points out that employing a polar and protic solvent is able to noticeably reduce the barrier of tatomerization