Reversible Light-Driven Redox Switching of Multifunctional Dipolar Ruthenium(III/II) Pentaammine(4,4‘-bipyridinium) Complexes

We report the first example of a molecular switch of multifunctional dipolar ruthenium(III/II) pentaammine-N-methyl-(4,4‘-bipyridinium) complexes, exclusively driven by light. This is achieved by using a two-phase (water/benzene) system in which Ru^III/II complexes are soluble only in the water phase. The reversible redox switching is triggered by the selective irradiation of the water and the benzene compartments with 254 and 528 nm light, respectively.