Novel heteroleptic ruthenium caged compounds: synthesis, spectral properties and attachment to SiO2 nanoparticles

ROLANDO M. CARABALLO; ALEJANDRO WOLOSIUK; PABLO ROSI; YAMILI TOUM; LUIS M. BARALDO

Santiago de Chile

Encuentro; 25th I-APS Meeting; 2016

Inter-American Photochemical Society

Ruthenium polypyridineshave been extensively studied, and their photophysical properties are wellknown.1 Because of these properties, they have been widely used indifferent applications, like photocatalysis, sensing, energy conversion andphotodynamic therapy. A group of these complexes, of general formula [Ru(bpy)2X2]n+(bpy= 2,2?-bipyridine, X= a labile ligand) has proved to be very effective inthe photoliberation of molecules of biological interest (caged compounds) dueto the very well established photolabile nature of binding ligand X.2 On the other hand, silica nanoparticles are one of the preferred vehiclesfor different in vivo applications,like drug delivery.3 These nanoparticles are also well suited for surface functionalization.In this work we present the synthesis and characterization of the complexes [Ru(bpy)(dcbpy)(py)2]2+and [Ru(dcbpy)2(py)2]2+ (dcbpy=4,4?-dicarboxy-2,2?-bipyridine, py= pyridine) and the study of theirphotochemical properties. These compounds can be attached to the surface of silicananoparticles through a covalent, amide bond, transferring their properties tothe surface. In order to proof this, we synthesized and characterized [Ru(bpy)2(dcbpy)]2+@SiO2fluorescent nanoparticles. Their photophysical and photochemical behavioursuggests these systems could be the basis of a family of caged compounds thatare able to release molecules from surface.