DNA-binding, photocleavage studies of ruthenium(II) complexes with 2-(2-quinolinyl) imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline.

Two new ruthenium complexes with [Ru(L)(2)(qip)](2+) (L=bpy (2,2'- bipyridine), phen (1,10-phenanthroline); qip=2-(2-quinolinyl)imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline), have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, ES-MS, (1)H NMR. The binding properties of two complexes towards CT-DNA were investigated by various optical methods and viscosity measurements. The experiment results suggested that both Ru(II) complexes can intercalate into DNA base pairs.

DNA-binding and photocleavage studies of ruthenium(II) complexes containing asymmetric intercalative ligand.

A novel asymmetric ligand 2-(pyridine-2-yl)-1-H-imidazo[4,5-i]dibenzo[2,3-a:2',3'-c]phenazine (pidbp) and its ruthenium complexes [Ru(L)(2)(pidbp)](2+) (L=bpy (2, 2'- bipyridine), phen (1, 10 - phenanthroline)), have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, ES-MS, (1)H NMR. Various methods support the conclusion that both Ru(II) complexes can intercalate into DNA base pairs. Complex [Ru(bpy)(2)(pidbp)](2+)4 exhibits its DNA "molecular light switch" properties.

Synthesis, DNA-binding and photocleavage of "light switch" complexes [Ru(bpy)2(pyip)]2+ and [Ru(phen)2(pyip)]2+.

Two novel Ru(II) complexes [Ru(bpy)(2)(pyip)](2+)1 and [Ru(phen)(2)(pyip)](2+)2 (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine; phen=1,10-phenanthroline; pyip=2-(pyridine-2-yl)imidazo-[4,5-f][1,10]-phenanthroline), have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, ES-MS, (1)H NMR, UV-Vis. The DNA-binding behaviors of both complexes were studied by spectroscopic methods and viscosity measurements. The results indicate that the two complexes can bind to CT-DNA in an intercalative mode, and also show that these two Ru(II) complexes can promote the photocleavage of pBR322 DNA.