Spectro-electrochemical Studies on [Ru(TAP)2(dppz)]2+-Insights into the Mechanism of its Photosensitized Oxidation of Oligonucleotides

[Ru(TAP)(2)(dppz)](2+) (TAP = 1,4,5,8-tetraazaphenanthrene; dppz = dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine) is known to photo-oxidize guanine in DNA. Whether this oxidation proceeds by direct photoelectron transfer or by proton-coupled electron transfer is still unknown. To help distinguish between these mechanisms, spectro-electrochemical experiments have been carried out with [Ru-(TAP)(2)(dppz)](2+) in acetonitrile. The UV-vis and mid-IR spectra obtained for the one-electron reduced product were compared to those obtained by picosecond transient absorption and time-resolved infrared experiments of [Ru-(TAP)(2)(dppz)](2+) bound to guanine-containing DNA. An interesting feature of the singly reduced species is an electronic transition in the near-IR region (with lambda(max) at 1970 and 2820 nm). Density functional and time-dependent density functional theory simulations of the vibrational and electronic spectra of [Ru(TAP)(2)(dppz)(2+), the reduced complex [Ru(TAP)(2)(dppz)](+), and four isomers of [Ru(TAP)(TAPH)(dppz)](2+) (a possible product of proton-coupled electron transfer) were performed. Significantly, these predict absorption bands at lambda > 1900 nm (attributed to a ligand-to-metal charge-transfer transition) for [Ru(TAP)(2)(dppz)](+) but not for [Ru(TAP)(TAPH)(dppz)](2+). Both the UV-vis and mid-IR difference absorption spectra of the electrochemically generated singly reduced species [Ru(TAP)(2)(dppz)](+) agree well with the transient absorption and time-resolved infrared spectra previously determined for the transient species formed by photoexcitation of [Ru(TAP)(2)(dppz)](2+) intercalated in guanine-containing DNA. This suggests that the photochemical process in DNA proceeds by photoelectron transfer and not by a proton-coupled electron transfer process involving formation of [Ru(TAP)(TAPH)-(dppz)](2+), as is proposed for the reaction with 5'-guanosine monophosphate. Additional infrared spectro-electrochemical measurements and density functional calculations have also been carried out on the free TAP ligand. These show that the TAP radical anion in acetonitrile also exhibits strong broad near-IR electronic absorption (lambda(max) at 1750 and 2360 nm).