Photoinduced interactions of supramolecular ruthenium(II) complexes with plasmid DNA: synthesis and spectroscopic, electrochemical, and DNA photocleavage studies.

Two new bridging ligands have been synthesized by combining substituted benzaldehydes with phenanthrolinopyrrole (php), resulting in new polyazine bridging ligands. The ligands have been characterized by (1)H NMR, mass spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. These new ligands display π-π* transitions above 500 nm with modest molar absorptivities. Upon excitation at the ligand-centered charge-transfer transition, weak emission with a maximum wavelength of 612 nm is observed. When coordinated to two ruthenium(II) bis(bipyridyl) groups, the new bimetallic complexes generated give an overall 4+ charge. The electronic transitions of the bimetallic ruthenium(II) complexes display traditional π-π* transitions at 287 nm and metal-to-ligand charge-transfer transitions at 452 nm with molar absorptivities greater than 30000 M(-1) cm(-1). Oxidation of the ruthenium(II) metal centers to ruthenium(III) occurs at potentials above 1.4 V versus the Ag/AgCl reference electrode. Spectroscopic and electrochemical measurements indicate that the ruthenium(II) moieties behave independently. Both complexes are water-soluble and show the ability to photonick plasmid DNA when irradiated with low-energy light above 550 nm. In addition, one of the complexes, [Ru(bpy)2php]2Van(4+), shows the ability to linearize plasmid DNA and gives evidence, by gel electrophoresis, of photoinduced binding to plasmid DNA.