Direct detection of the mercury–nitrogen bond in the thymine–Hg^II–thymine base-pair with ¹⁹⁹Hg NMR spectroscopy

Abstract

We have observed the 1-bond (199)Hg-(15)N J-coupling ((1)J((199)Hg,(15)N) = 1050 Hz) within the Hg(II)-mediated thymine-thymine base pair (T-Hg(II)-T). This strikingly large (1)J((199)Hg,(15)N) is the first one for canonical sp(2)-nitrogen atoms, which can be a sensitive structure-probe of N-mercurated compounds and a direct evidence for N-mercuration.