“…The ligands 2‐phenyl‐1 H ‐imidazo[4,5‐ f ][1,10]phenanthroline (bip), 2‐(naphthalen‐1‐yl)‐1 H ‐imidazo[4,5‐ f ][1,10]phenanthroline (1‐nip), 2‐(naphthalen‐2‐yl)‐1 H ‐imidazo[4,5‐ f ][1,10]phenanthroline (2‐nip), 2‐(9 H ‐fluoren‐2‐yl)‐1 H ‐imidazo [4,5‐ f ][1,10] phenanthroline (fip), 2‐(pyren‐1‐yl)‐1 H ‐imidazo[4,5‐ f ][1,10]phenanthroline (ippy) and 2‐(anthracene‐10‐yl)‐1 H ‐imidazo[4,5‐ f ][1,10]phenanthroline (aip) were synthesized according to literature procedures . Compounds [Ru(4,4′‐dmb) 2 Cl 2 ] ∙ 2H 2 O , Ru(4,4′‐dmb) 2 (bip)](PF 6 ) 2 1 , Ru(4,4′‐dmb) 2 (ippy)](PF 6 ) 2 7 and 9,10‐anthracene dipropionate dianion 8 were synthesized as reported in the literature. For our in vitro study, Ru(II) complexes 1 ‐ 7 were converted to their corresponding Cl – salts.…”