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Updated: May 21, 2026

The Synthesis, Characterization and Reactivity of a Series of Ruthenium N-triphosPh Complexes
Published on: April 10, 2015
Photodissociation of a ruthenium(II) arene complex and its subsequent interactions with biomolecules: a density
Hanlu Wang1, Nathan J DeYonker, Xiting Zhang
1MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry/KLGHEI of Environment and Energy Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
The piano-stool Ru(II) arene complex [(η⁶-benz)Ru(bpm)(py)]²⁺ (benz = benzene, bpm = 2,2'-bipyrimidine, and py = pyridine), which is conventionally nonlabile (on a timescale and under conditions relevant for biological reactivity), can be activated by visible light to selectively photodissociate the monodentate ligand (py). In the present study, the aquation and binding of the photocontrolled ruthenium(II) arene complex [(η⁶-benz)Ru(bpm)(py)]²⁺ to various biomolecules are studied by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT). Potential energy curves (PECs) calculated for the Ru-N (py) bonds in [(η⁶-benz)Ru(bpm)(py)]²⁺ in the singlet and triplet state give useful insights into the photodissociation mechanism of py. The binding energies of the various biomolecules are calculated, which allows the order of binding affinities among the considered nuleic-acid- or protein-binding sites to be discerned. The kinetics for the replacement of water in the aqua complex with biomolecules is also considered, and the results demonstrate that guanine is superior to other biomolecules in terms of coordinating with the Ru(II) aqua adduct, which is in reasonable agreement with experimental observations.
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