Structural and Charge Sensitivity of Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Adenine on Silver Surface: A Quantum Chemical Study

The interaction of adenine with silver surfaces has been investigated using density functional method. Two isomers of N9H and N7H were included to model surface species. Considering the complexity of silver surfaces in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, neutral and positive silver clusters were used to mimic the substrate. Following the bonding principle, we consider adenine-approached silver clusters in different configurations and their relation to the Raman spectra. For neutral adenine Ag-n (n = 4, 7, and 9) complexes, N9H-Ag-n complexes are more stable than N7H-Ag-n ones. The corresponding Raman spectra strongly depended on the structure of adenine and the adsorption sites. Moreover, we find N7H interacts with one positively charged silver cluster via N3 and N9 at the same time as the most stable surface complex, which can reproduce the experimental surface Raman spectra of adenine well on silver surfaces.