A new ruthenium polypyridine complex, [Ru(phen) 2(pMIP)] 2+(phen=1,10-phenanthroline, pMIP=2-(4-methylphenyl)imidazo phenanthroline), was synthesized and characterized by elementary analysis, MS and 1H NMR. Spectroscopic methods have been carried out on the interaction mechanism of the Ru (Ⅱ) complex with yeast tRNA systematically. The experimental results indicate that the complex binds to yeast tRNA with an intercalative mode possibly, and interacts with yeast tRNA enantioselectively. The experimental results also suggest that spectroscopic method is effective on studying the interaction mechanism of Ru (Ⅱ) complexes with RNA. Information obtained from the study is potentially useful in the design of new RNA-targeting drugs.
Two enantiomerically pure polypyridyl ruthenium(Ⅱ) complexes Δ- and Λ-[Ru(bpy) 2HPIP](PF 6) 2{HPIP=2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline} were synthesized and characterized. DNA-binding studies indicated that both enantiomers bound to calf thymus DNA by intercalation, the Δ- enantiomer exhibited a stronger binding affinity than the Λ- enantiomer. Upon irradiation at 302 nm, both enantiomers were found to promote cleavage of plasmid pBR 322 DNA from the supercoiled form Ⅰ to the open circular form Ⅱ, but the Δ-enantiomer exhibited a higher cleaving efficiency for DNA due to the different binding affinities to DNA. The cleaving mechanisms for Δ- and Λ-[Ru(bpy) 2HPIP] 2+ were identical, the hydroxyl radical(OH ·) was likely to be the reactive specie responsible for the cleavage of plasmid pBR 322, and the photoreduction of Ru(Ⅱ) complex with concomitant hydroxide oxidation was the important step in the DNA cleavage reaction.
