Claudia Turro
Ohio State University, OH·Chemistry
When certain metal-containing molecules absorb light, they change within femtoseconds to picoseconds (millionths of a millionth of a second) in ways that decide what they do next. Ruthenium complexes, molecules built around a ruthenium metal atom bound to surrounding groups called ligands, can use that absorbed energy for solar energy conversion or to release drugs on demand in light-based therapy.
- Fields
Chemistry
- Topics
ruthenium complexes
Ru(II)
photochemistry
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Determine whether fast population of the metal-centered triplet ligand field (3LF) state is required for light-triggered ligand exchange in Ru(II) complexes, or whether exchange can occur directly from the 3MLCT state, using ultrafast electronic and vibrational spectroscopy.
- Uncover how dual-activity Ru(II) complexes reach two different excited states at once, both making cell-killing singlet oxygen and releasing a ligand, using femtosecond-to-picosecond spectroscopy.
- Synthesize new ruthenium complexes and test how the identities of leaving and ancillary ligands control photosubstitution, aiming to release strongly binding ligands with visible or near-infrared light.
More about the research
This project, a collaboration with Jeremy Kodanko at Wayne State University, seeks the basic rules governing these early steps in ruthenium(II) complexes.
Why it matters
Ruthenium complexes that release drugs when lit could enable phototherapy with treatment confined to illuminated tissue, especially if they respond to visible or near-infrared light that penetrates further. Understanding what blocks ligand loss could also guide longer-lived light absorbers for solar energy conversion.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Uttam Manna
Illinois State University, IL·Physics
Excite the normally dark transition from the ground singlet state to the excited triplet state in ruthenium complexes, using the enhanced magnetic field of high refractive index dielectric nanoparticles and metasurfaces.
Lin Chen
Northwestern University, IL·Chemistry
Track how charge carriers and excitons localize and evolve in organic metal halide hybrids on femtosecond timescales using ultrafast optical spectroscopy.
Melanie Reber
University of Georgia, GA·Chemistry·Early-career
Build ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy inside external optical enhancement cavities, which recycle laser light through the sample, to reach the sensitivity needed to probe the low molecular densities of a molecular beam.
The school
Ohio State University: 71 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 882 research doctorates a year.
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