Hole Transport in A-form DNA/RNA Hybrid Duplexes

DNA/RNA hybrid duplexes are prevalent in many cellular functions and are an attractive target form for electrochemical biosensing and electric nanodevice. However the electronic conductivities of DNA/RNA hybrid duplex remain relatively unexplored and limited further technological applications. Here cyclopropyl-modified deoxyribose- and ribose-adenosines were developed to explore hole transport (HT) in both DNA duplex and DNA/RNA hybrids by probing the transient hole occupancies on adenine tracts. HT yields through both B-form and A-form double helixes displayed similar shallow distance dependence, although the HT yields of DNA/RNA hybrid duplexes were lower than those of DNA duplexes. The lack of oscillatory periods and direction dependence in HT through both helixes implied efficient hole propagation can be achieved via the hole delocalization and coherent HT over adenine tracts, regardless of the structural variations.