Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : The photochemistry of Ru‐tris‐(1,4,5,8‐tetraazaphenanthrene) (Ru(tap)3 2+) in the absence and in the presence of adenosine‐5′‐monophosphate (AMP) and guanosine‐5′‐monophosphate (GMP) has been studied by flash photolysis and by steady state illumination. Laser pulsed irradiation of Ru(tap)3 2+ in the presence of AMP produces, with a rather low yield, the transient reduced complex, Ru(tap)3 1+, by electron transfer from AMP to the excited complex. The flash photolysis of the same solution, after pre‐illumination, shows that a new photoactive compound absorbs at = 500 nm and its efficiency of production decreases at lower temperature and pH. Comparison with the photodechelation of Ru(tap)3 2+ in the absence of mononucleotide, and with the photoadduct formation between Ru(tap)3 2+ and GMP/AMP, leads to the conclusion that this photoactive species could correspond to [Ru(tap)2AMP, X]n+ formed by photosubstitution of a tap ligand in the presence of AMP. Copyright © 1994 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim