Ruthenium
complexes bearing protic diimine ligands are cytotoxic
to certain cancer cells upon irradiation with blue light. Previously
reported complexes of the type [(N,N)2Ru(6,6′-dhbp)]Cl2 with 6,6′-dhbp
= 6,6′-dihydroxybipyridine and N,N = 2,2′-bipyridine (bipy) (1
A
), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) (2
A
), and 2,3-dihydro-[1,4]dioxino[2,3-f][1,10]phenanthroline
(dop) (3
A
) show EC50 values as low as 4 μM (for 3
A
) vs breast cancer cells upon blue light irradiation (Inorg. Chem.20177519). Herein, subscript A denotes the acidic form of the complex bearing OH groups,
and B denotes the basic form bearing O– groups. This photocytotoxicity was originally attributed to photodissociation,
but recent results suggest that singlet oxygen formation is a more
plausible cause of photocytotoxicity. In particular, bulky methoxy
substituents enhance photodissociation but these complexes are nontoxic
(Dalton Trans201815685).
Cellular studies are presented herein that show the formation of reactive
oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis indicators upon treatment of cells
with complex 3
A
and blue light.
Singlet oxygen sensor green (SOSG) shows the formation of 1O2 in cell culture for cells treated with 3
A
and blue light. At physiological pH, complexes 1
A
-3
A
are deprotonated to form 1
B
-3
B
in situ. Quantum yields for 1O2 (ϕΔ) are 0.87 and 0.48 for 2
B
and 3
B
, respectively, and these are an
order of magnitude higher than the quantum yields for 2
A
and 3
A
. The values for ϕΔ show an increase with
6,6′-dhbp derived substituents as follows: OMe < OH <
O–. TD-DFT studies show that the presence of a low
lying triplet metal-centered (3MC) state favors photodissociation
and disfavors 1O2 formation for 2
A
and 3
A
(OH groups). However, upon deprotonation (O– groups),
the 3MLCT state is accessible and can readily lead to 1O2 formation, but the dissociative 3MC state is energetically inaccessible. The changes to the energy
of the 3MLCT state upon deprotonation have been confirmed
by steady state luminescence experiments on 1
A
-3
A
and their
basic analogs, 1
B
-3
B
. This energy landscape favors 1O2 formation for 2
B
and 3
B
and leads to enhanced
toxicity for these complexes under physiological conditions. The ability
to convert readily from OH to O– groups allowed
us to investigate an electronic change that is not accompanied by
steric changes in this fundamental study.