Binuclear ruthenium(II) phenanthroline compounds with extreme binding affinity for DNA

Abstract
Dimeric homochiral ruthenium complexes [L2Ru{dppz(11-11′)ddpz}RuL2]4+(L = 1,10-phenanthroline, 2,2′-bipyridyl; dppz = dipyrido[3,2-A: 2′,3′-C]phenazine) bind extremely strongly to duplex DNA with different binding geometries for the ΔΔ and ΔΔ enantiomers of the phenanthroline complex but with similar geometries for the bipyridyl complex enantiomers.