Developing Carrier Complexes for “Caged NO”: RuCl3(NO)(H2O)2 Complexes of Dipyridylamine, (dpaH), N,N,N'N'-Tetrakis (2-Pyridyl) Adipamide, (tpada), and (2-Pyridylmethyl) Iminodiacetate, (pida2-)

Abstract

Delivery agents which can carry the {Ru(NO)}6 chromophore (“caged NO”) are desired for vasodilation and for photodynamic therapy of tumors. Toward these goals, complexes derived from [RuCl3(NO)(H2O)2]= (1) have been prepared using dipyridylamine (dpaH) as mono and bis adducts, [Ru(NO)Cl3(dpaH)] = (2) and [Ru(NO)Cl(dpaH)2]Cl2 = (3). The dpaH ligands coordinate cis to the Ru(NO) axis.The mono derivative is a model for a potential DNA groove-spanning binuclear complex {[Ru(NO)Cl3]2(tpada)} = (4) which has two DNA-coordinating RuII centers, photo-labile {Ru(NO)}6 sites, and a groove-spanning tether moiety.The binuclear assembly is prepared from the tethered dipyridylamine ligand N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl)adipamide (tpada) which has recently been shown to provide a binuclear carrier complex suited to transporting RuII and PdII agents. A related complex, [Ru(NO)Cl(pida)] = (5) with the {Ru(NO)}6 moiety bound to (2-pyridylmethyl) iminodiacetate (pida2-) is also characterized as a potential “caged NO” carrier. Structural information concerning the placement of the pyridyl donor groups relative to the {Ru(NO)}6 unit has been obtained from H1 and C13 NMR and infrared methods, noting that a pyridyl donor trans to NO+ causes “trans strengthening” of this ligand for [Ru(NO)Cl(pida)], whereas placement of pyridyl groups cis to NO+ causes a weakening of the N-O bond and a lower NO stretching frequency in the dpa-based complexes.