Spectroscopy and Electrochemistry of Ruthenium-Modified Nucleic Acids: Design of a Novel Metal-Binding Nucleoside

Abstract

Electron transfer (ET) reactions through DNA have been the subject of numerous investigations due to the implications for light-induced DNA damage and the quest for understanding long-range ET events in biological molecules. An important objective in this area continues to be the facile and site-specific incorporation of metal complexes into DNA. While recent work has focused on nucleobasic and nonnucleosidic sites for the attachment of high-potential complexes, our efforts have concentrated on the ribose ring (to minimize structural perturbations) as the incorporation site for both high- and low-potential metal complexes.