Photoinduced energy transfer within hydrogen-bonded multi-component assemblies based an a ruthenium-polypyridyl donor and an osmium-polypyridyl or ferrocenyl acceptor

Formation of multipartite associates driven by the complementary H-bonding abilities of cytosine and guanine appended to [Ru(bipy)(3)](2+), [Os(bipy)(3)](2+), and ferrocenyl chromophores is probed by exploiting the luminescence properties of the various building blocks and the energy transfer processes occurring between them.